


Infinity

by thetasteofhercherrycarmex



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Deaf Clint Barton, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Post Infinity War, Shuri and Peter Parker have to be friends like science nerds stick together, Some angst, all of wakanda/starbucks, basically pain, bucky will never abandon his goats, but it gets better, get bucky a plum, if you dont think that bucky named his goats after the avengers youre wrong, peter/bagels, steve hates trees, stucky scenes, tony/cereal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-05-01 22:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14530386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetasteofhercherrycarmex/pseuds/thetasteofhercherrycarmex
Summary: "Oh, God."Half of the universe turned to dust with a single snap.Trillions, dead.It's time to bring back hope.It's time to defeat Thanos and bring back those who were lost.It's time for Earth's mightiest heroes to become the Universe's mightiest heroes.(Or: an infinity war fix it fic. enjoy.)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so, I told myself going into 'Infinity War' that it was going to be ok. It was going to be ok, whatever messed up crap Thanos did.  
> I was wrong.  
> I am not okay.  
> I am in pain, and I am hurting, and I have to repair the damage.  
> So, instead of aimlessly reading fan theories and crying, I'm writing this to fix things on my own. I'd like to think of this as canon, just so that is something awful happens in Avengers 4, I'll be ok.  
> I hope you will be, too.  
> Also, this obviously contains MAJOR spoilers for 'Avengers: Infinity War'.

Chapter One-

 

"Oh, God."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two-

**3.5 Billion Reported Dead This Morning**

**Président français mort**

_“Ladies and gentlemen, I am sad to say that this morning, many world leaders including British Prime Minister Theresa May, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, Irish President Micheal Higgins, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, and Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome were reported dead.”_

**今天上午中国总统遇难**

**Uachtarán** na **hÉireann, Michael Higgins Dead**

**Pope Francis: “This is Not The Second Coming”**

_“This morning, after several world leaders were found dead, riots erupted in cities all over America, calling for the President to release a statement. He has yet to respond, and a few rumor him to be dead as well.”_

**Sokovian Accords Reportedly Called Off This Morning After 3.5 Billion Dead**

**Where Did They Go? Over 3.5 Billion Dead, but no Bodies**

**Up in Dust: the Names of Reported 3.5 Billion Dead**

_“Many are asking today: what next?”_

**German, French, Russian and British Economies Crash**

_“President Donald Trump has resigned this afternoon after riots erupted in American cities.”_

_“This afternoon, a skirmish erupted between Russian and Mongolian soldiers after the Russian economy crashed.”_

_“Multiple public suicides reported in New York City.”_

**‘There is no hope left’: Public Speech by new British Prime Minister, Lauren James.**

 

_**Where are the Avengers? The World Needs to Know** _


	3. Chapter Three

“Oh, God.” 

The voice rang out, but no one said anything else. How could they, after all? After all of this. Everything that had happened. 

Half of the universe. 

Turned to dust. 

Gone. 

Just like that. 

“What now?” Finally broke the silence. Everyone looked to Natasha, who had spoken. “I mean, how do we bring them back?” She said. 

“Can we?” Steve said, reading everyone’s minds. A collective sigh echoed his words. Everyone stood in silence once again, their brains still fully wrapping around the idea that half of the universe was dead. 

Those they had loved, too. 

Bucky. 

Wanda. 

Vision. 

T’Challa. 

Sam. 

Groot. 

Dead. 

Disintegrated into dust, ash, whatever you’d call it… gone. 

Death was a funny thought. Even though they’d all faced it several times, but only now that it had taken their own it seemed real. 

Could they get them back? How? 

Could they reverse all that Thanos had done? 

Save all he had killed? 

Could they?

“We should get back to the palace,” Okoye said. Everyone again looks to her. Natasha shook her head in agreement. 

“We need to regroup. Make a plan.” She said. 

“Yeah,” Steve echoed. 

“ _ Can we _ get them back? Bruce asked, always the intelectual. 

Steve was silent, looking back to the spot where his best friend had become nothing but ash. His best friend. 

He’d been more than a friend. 

Steve watched as Okoye looked to where T’Challa had been, no less than minutes before. He watched as each person looked to the person they’d lost. The person they’d loved. Trusted. 

Needed. 

And he took a step forward. 

“We have to try.”

 

***

 

The throne room of the Wakandan palace was cold and empty, and it reminded everyone too much of what they’d lost. 

So, everyone had abandoned it and moved on to Shuri’s lab.

Everyone again sat in silence. 

“What do we do?”  Natasha once again asked. 

“That’s the question.” Bruce answered. 

Silence descended again. 

“Wait,” Thor said finally, his first time to speak since the forest. “Where is Tony?” 

Steve grimaced a little at the mention of Tony’s name. 

“Has no one seen him?” Steve asked. 

“He hasn’t been in Wakanda,” said a voice behind everyone. They all turned to see Shuri standing in the doorway of her lab. “I’ve yet to see him.” She walked forward and looked at each of them in turn. 

“We need to find Tony. See if he’s…” Steve said, but he couldn’t finish. 

Everyone knew what he meant. 

See if he was still alive. 

“Wait,” Bruce said, rubbing his temples. “I saw him-- back in New York.” He began pacing in a circle. “With the wizards…” He muttered to himself. 

“Wizards?” Shuri asked, intrigued. “Like in Harry Potter?” 

Bruce nodded. 

“I imagine-- some sort of temporal rift of energy that they can control-- but we fought one of Thanos’s children…” He began pacing faster, racking his brain through the events that had happened over the past day.

“Temporal rift?” Shuri muttered and turned to her different inventions, thinking. 

Suddenly, Bruce shouted out. 

“Tony jumped on that circle spaceship with the spider kid!” He exclaimed. 

“Spider… kid?” Steve asked. “Do you mean--” 

“The same kid that fought at the airport?” Natasha interrupted. Bruce cocked his head to the side. 

“Airport?” He asked. Steve sighed, remembering that he has been absent ever since their fight with Ultron. 

“Steve and Tony had a bit of a falling out, after you left.” Natasha explained. 

“Falling out? What could they have fallen out over?” Bruce asked. Steve sighed. 

“After Sokovia, people called for the Avengers to be…” He trailed off. 

“Controlled, to say the least.” Finishing, finally. 

“Tony was all for it, but Steve…” Natasha looked to Steve. 

“We shouldn’t have to wait for someone to decide if fighting is right if there’s people already dying. We need to save them.” He said, clenching his fists. 

“Well, that and Bucky, too,” Rhodey said from behind them all. Everyone looked to him. It was the first time he’d spoken since he’d seen Sam fade away. 

Sam, his friend. 

“Bucky-- who’s Bucky?” Bruce asked. Steve sighed, trying to fill the holes in his own memory.

“James Buchanan Barnes, my childhood best friend turned brainwashed and mind controlled Russian spy and covert operator.” Steve explained. “The Russians, they made him into a monster-- the Winter Soldier. Some crazy guy went off digging back around all that and found out there were others like Bucky. He ended up drawing me and Tony in to their old lab, and revealed ever so dramatically that Bucky had been the one to kill Tony’s parents.” 

Those last words stood up in the air, waiting to be snatched by another question. 

But they hung there for a few moments, agonizing, painful moments. 

“And then what?” Shuri asked from behind them all. “I remember my brother was upset about all of this, too. He believed that the White Wolf caused the explosion that killed our father, so he tried to kill him.” She added to Steve’s story. 

“You call this… Bucky the White Wolf?” Bruce asked. Shuri nodded and looked to Steve with a curious expression. 

“So, what happened?” She asked. 

“Tony and I, we fought.” He said, sighing. “And… Nat, Sam and I all went on the run. War criminals, in the government’s opinion.” 

Bruce bit his lip the way he normally did when he was deep in thought.

“But you mentioned an airport,” He said.

“There was a face off, kind of like one you’d see in movies.” Natasha said. “It was at this airport in Germany, if I remember correctly.” She said. 

“It was insane!” Rhodey exclaimed. “There was this dude who could change his size-- what was his name?” He asked. Steve grinned, the best kind of grin a man like him could have in his situation. 

Lost his best friend. Lost his love. 

Lost everything. 

And yet he found himself smiling. 

Odd, wasn’t it? 

That seemed like something Vision would say. 

“Ant-Man.” Steve said. “And yeah, the spider kid. Could shoot spider webs, stick to buildings, stuff like that.” He explained. Bruce nodded understandably, but you could see the gears of his mind ticking away, trying to understand a man who could shrink and grow and a boy who could shoot spider webs from his hands. 

“So you saw Tony jumping on a spaceship with the spider kid?” Rhodey asked. Bruce nodded, still lost in thought. 

“Yeah,” He mumbled, thoughts whirring and buzzing about temporal rifts and the small chitter that they held because they couldn’t face the tragedy. 

“Where do you think that spaceship was from?” Natasha asked. 

“The question is, where was it going?” Shuri asked. She turned to a computer screen and started typing away at it very quickly. Swiping through a few different screens, she finally gave a little “Aha!” 

“I hacked into the New York security cameras around the time the ship would've been there. See what you can find.” She explained, throwing the image of a round, descending ship into the skyscrapers of NYC onto a wall. 

Steve shook his head in the corner, still wishing for a time when the craziest thing science had created was him. 

“There--” Bruce said, and Shuri stopped the feed. 

Tony Stark-- well, Iron Man, to be honest-- flying upwards and boarding the ship. Then the kid, following him. 

“That looks like one of Thanos’ Ships,” Thor said, squinting at the screen. “It must’ve been heading back to Titan.” 

“Titan?” Bruce asked, adjusting his glasses. Thor nodded. 

“Titan is-- was-- Thanos’ home planet, before it was destroyed.” He explained. 

“So Tony’s on Titan?” Natasha asked. Steve grimaced. 

“Look, Steve, I know that you who've had some issues--” Bruce reasoned. Steve shook his head. 

“No, it’s not that.” He paused. “We need him. Like it or not, the world needs the Avengers.” Steve’s words were meant to be inspiring. 

But they only reminded everyone of their loss. 

“I can go get Tony,” Thor said, breaking everyone’s silence. Steve nodded. 

“Go.” He said. 

No one argued that Steve took the natural lead. They were a team, yes, but a broken and bruised team. 

Thor held his hand out, and his new axe flew to it. 

“I thought you used a hammer,” Bruce said. 

“I did, but my sister destroyed it.” Thor said nonchalantly in his formal Asgardian tone. 

“You have a sister, too?” Rhodey exclaimed. “Didn’t your brother cause the Battle of New York?”

“Yes, she’s the goddess of death.” Thor explained. “And my brother is dead.”

Suddenly, a burst of rainbow light came down from the heavens, and Thor was sucked up into it. 

“That was dramatic,” Shuri said from the corner. 

“So what do we do now? Do we wait?” Natasha asked. Steve shrugged. 

“What can we do?” He asked. 

They were back to square one. Too much to do, but so little they could. 

“I’ll talk to my brother, he’ll have an idea.” Shuri said. Everyone’s faces fell, knowing they’d have to tell the young princess her brother was dead. 

“Actually, Shuri…” Natasha said.    
Of course, she’d be the one to be heartless. She always did act like that, like whatever they’d done to her in the Red Room had made her heartless. 

She thought she was heartless, too. Maybe that was what truly made her heartless. 

Truly heartless in a room full off human science experiments and war criminals. 

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Shuri said in a small, scared voice. Natasha took a deep breath and nodded. “I assumed that much.” Shuri continued, her voice breaking and a small tear falling down her cheek. “He’s been dead before, but--” She stopped and sunk to her knees, tears falling freely. 

Okoye was suddenly there at the door, and then she was there comforting the little princess. 

Steve wanted to cry, too. He wanted to cry for his friend. 

His Bucky. 

He wanted to cry because he’d missed his chance again. 

But he couldn’t. The world needed Captain America, not Steve Rogers. The world needed a hero, not a mourning lover. 

Finally, Shuri looked up. 

“I guess we all have something to fight for, then.” She said, a fierce determination gleaming in her eyes. Like her mother-- like all Wakandan women-- she was a force to be reckoned with. “I assume Vision is dead, too.” She said, standing and facing her works, once again flipping through digital files. 

“Yeah, Thanos took the Mind Stone.” Bruce said. Shuri nodded. 

“I assumed that much.” She paused, her voice hardened. “I managed to download a majority of his consciousness before he died. Maybe we can bring it back.” She explained, and tossed another digital image onto the wall. 

It showed the inner workings of Vision’s mind. A majority of it was taken up by Wanda.

“We’d need a Vibranium body,” Bruce said. “And time.” He continued. 

“Vibranium, we have.” Shuri sighed and flicked her fingers up, making the shades on the windows of her lab lift to reveal the enormous cave of Vibranium it faced. 

“Whoa,” Bruce said excitedly, like a small child handed a new toy. 

“And then what?” Steve asked. 

“We bring everyone back. Then we defeat Thanos.” Natasha said. 

“You really believe that we can get them back?” Rhodey asked. Natasha faced him. 

“I’ve spent my life a spy, a puppet, a soldier and a war criminal.” She paused and looked to Steve. “I godd*mn well better have something to at least to hope for.” 

The room fell back into silence. 

Once again, it was interrupted by a burst of rainbow light. The light faded, and Tony Stark stood there. 

He was bleeding and clutching his stomach. Behind him stood Thor and a woman made of blue metal. 

Tony looked up at the remnants of Earth’s once mightiest heroes. 

Steve, broken and heartsick. 

Rhodey, alone once again. 

Natasha, still standing strong because if she didn’t she’d crack, and no glue could fix her. 

Shuri, eyes flitting around, her mind working away the pain of losing her brother. 

The raccoon who stood in the corner, finally silent, holding the last branch of his best friend. 

“We’re all that’s left?” Tony asked, his voice hollow and broken from the pain of it all. 

Then, finally, a word to confirm his fears:

“Yes.” 


	4. Chapter Four

_ “I’m not feeling so good, Mr. Stark.”  _

_ “Please, I don’t want to go--” _

_ “I’m sorry…” _

Tony bit his lip to fight back the tears. The kid was gone-- oh god, the kid-- he was  _ gone.  _ Nothing but ash and dust and  _ gone.  _ Some old prayer or rather echoed in Tony’s head (ashes to ashes, dust to….), but nothing more than the pounding in his head was louder. 

The kid was gone. 

“His name, I think, was Peter.” Said a mechanical voice from above. Tony looked up through tear-stained eyes to see the blue woman staring at him. 

Peter. 

Tony knew his name, obviously, but he couldn’t say it. If he said it, it would be real. 

And he would be gone. 

“Sh*t,” Tony said as he lurched forward, blood seeping through his hands as he tried to put pressure on the gaping hole in his chest. The blue woman walked over and ripped off a part of Tony’s shirt. 

“What the he--” Tony protested.

“Shut up, or i’ll leave you here on the godforsaken planet.” She said, mechanical eyes dark and serious. Tony’s vision blurred from pain and blood loss, but he noticed she was trying to staunch the wound. 

“You know, I know a guy who’s got a metal arm,” Tony said, slightly delirious. “You two would get along fine, you know?” The woman glared at him and stood. 

“You get over things quickly.” She said. Tony sighed. 

“There’s this thing I do, I humor myself away from the pain,” He slurred. “You should try it sometime.” 

The woman looked to the sky. 

“I did.” She said distantly. “And then I became this.” Gesturing to her android body. Not quite human, not quite robot, but a torturous mix of the two. 

“What’s your name?” Tony asked. The woman looked to him.

“Nebula.” 

“So, Nebula, is your whole family blue, or...” Tony snorted at his own joke. He looked down to the spot where he’d been stabbed. “You know, I don’t feel so--” He stopped. 

_ “I’m not feeling so good, Mr. Stark.”  _

By now, the wind had scattered the ashes of the kid to god knows where. 

The knife that had gutted Tony’s chest seemed like a numb pain now, nothing,  _ nothing  _ compared to the pain he felt from losing the kid. 

_ His  _ kid. 

Because Tony was the only real father figure he’d ever had. The kid had trusted Tony, and then… this. 

He was scared and alone. 

“Peter.” Tony whispered. Another wave of tears came flooding back to Tony. 

“We need to get off this planet,” Nebula said. “How’d you get here, anyway?” She asked. Tony looked to the crashed circle spaceship in the distance. 

_ “Congratulations, you’re an Avenger.” _

_ “Yeah, but the kid’s seen more movies.” _

_ “My name is Peter.” _

_ “Oh, we’re using our made up names. Then I am Spiderman.” _

“That.” Tony choked, nodding to the ship. Nebula frowned. 

“We’re not getting off that way, then.” She sat down on a rock and crossed her arms. “What did you do to it?” Asking after a moment of silence. 

“We crashed it.” Tony mumbled. “Accidently.” 

Nebula nodded and looked into the distance. 

“Who did you lose?” Tony asked, watching the sadness in her black eyes. 

“My sister.” Nebula answered, her voice blank. “Her name was Gamora.” 

“Nice name.” 

“She hated me, but saved my life. She took Thanos to the Soul Stone to save me.” 

“Soul Stone?” Tony asked. 

“One of the Infinity Stones.” Nebula explained. “Arguably the most powerful. And arguably what just killed off half the universe.” 

Tony was silent. 

“Thanos must’ve had to sacrifice her to obtain the stone.” Nebula continued. 

“Do you think there’s any way of getting them back?” Tony asked, his voice still quiet. Nebula shook her head. 

“It’s unlikely.” She sighed. Tony smiled. 

“One thing I’ve learned in my life: ‘unlikely’ doesn’t mean no.” He said. Nebula looked at him strangely. 

“You’re awfully optimistic for someone who’s been stabbed,” She said. “Another one of the things you do to distract yourself?” 

“No,” Tony said. “I’m just like this.” 

Nebula’s face seemed to almost smile. Almost smile, not quite a smile because everything was wrong. 

Suddenly, a bright flash of rainbow light appeared. Tony jumped, dislodging his makeshift bandages. Nebula disappeared into the shadows between rocks.

“What the f--” He exclaimed. He stopped, seeing who stepped out of the light. 

“Thor!” Tony yelled. Thor looked to Tony. 

“You’re hurt.” Thor said. Tony shrugged. 

“Nah, man, just a little stab,” he mumbled, although the blood loss was affecting him again. 

“We need to get him a medic,” Nebula said, stepping out of the shadows. Thor looked to her. 

“Yeah,” He agreed. Tony sagged his shoulders. 

“Who’s gone?” He asked. Thor looked to him. 

“You don’t want to know.” He answered. 

“Is it that bad?” 

“Worse.” Thor said. 

“Ultron worse or Loki attacking New York worse?” Tony frowned.

“Both.” 

“Is everyone that’s left safe?” Tony asked. Thor nodded. 

“They’re in this country called Wakanda.” He explained. 

“Wakanda? But they’re closed off to the world!” Tony exclaimed. 

“Apparently not.” Thor said. Tony nodded, and Thor reached for his axe. 

“I thought you used a hammer.” Tony mumbled. “You know, the whole ‘God of Thunder’ thing.” Thor sighed. 

“I did, but then my father died and released my sister, the goddess of death, and she destroyed it.” He explained. 

“You have a sister?” Tony asked. Thor nodded. 

“She went to Asgard and took over, and Loki and I were trapped on a planet called Sakaar.” Thor paused. “We met Bruce there, too. He was the champion of this gladiator ring that we had to escape to get off that planet. We met a Valkyrie and she helped us.” 

“You found Bruce?” Tony asked, his eyes alert. “And what’s a Valkyrie?”

“The Valkyrie were a army of women warriors who fought for Asgard.” Thor explained. 

“Were?” Tony asked. 

“My sister killed all of them, except for one, the first time she was on Asgard.” 

Tony sucked in a sharp breath. 

“Sounds intense.” 

“It was incredibly intense, the whole ordeal.” Thor said. 

“As one would expect when fighting the goddess of Death.” Tony commented. 

“Yes.” 

“You said you found Bruce?” Tony asked. 

“Yeah, and then we went back to Asgard and fought my sister, and eventually caused Ragnarok to defeat her.” Thor finished his story. 

“Ragnarok, like the end of worlds?” Tony asked. Thor nodded nonchalantly. 

“I lost an eye, too.” He said. Tony gaped.

“Can you still control thunder?” He asked. Thor grinned and snapped his fingers. Lightning flashed overhead, and thunder boomed. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

“Were there any others on the planet?” Thor asked. Tony’s eyes glittered with tears. 

“Yeah,” He breathed. 

“Dead?” Thor asked. 

“Dead.” Tony repeated, and looked to where Peter had died. 

Not died, really. 

(Ashes to ashes…)

“I had a kid die in my arms, Thor.” Tony whispered. Thor nodded. 

“I watched my brother choke to death.” He said. “I couldn’t do  _ anything. _ ” 

“Tell me who’s gone.” Tony asked, his eyes serious. “ _ Please _ .” Thor looked down. 

“Wanda, Vision, Sam, T’Challa, and James.” He whispered. Tony looked up.

“James? You mean Rhodey?” He asked. Thor shook his head. 

“No, the one that Steve is in love with.” He said. 

“Steve’s in love with…” Tony stopped, taking in a shaky breath. “Barnes.”   
“The one with the metal arm?” Thor asked. Tony nodded. “That one.” 

“Wow…” Tony breathed, his mind overwhelmed by pain and this new information.

“How’d you get stabbed, anyway?” Thor asked. 

“Thanos.” Tony said. “Bastard,” He clipped. 

“Enough chit-chat, boys,” Nebula said from behind them. “He’ll be bleeding out soon.” 

“I’m fine, Neb.” Tony mumbled, going delirious. “Can I call you Neb? I like that name--” 

“Call me that again and i’ll skin you.” Nebula said, glaring at him. Tony raised his arms in defence. 

“We can take the bifrost back, but he’ll be quite shaken.” Thor said. “It might make the wound worse.” Tony grimaced. 

“They can help me in Wakanda, right?” He asked. Thor shrugged. 

“I’d assume.” 

“Then let’s go.” Nebula said. Tony nodded and let out a shallow breath. 

“I’m ready.” He said. Thor raised his axe, and they were engulfed in rainbow light. 

Tony gave a little shout as pain shot through his chest from the stab wound. He looked down and watched as the blood began to seep through his shirt. 

“How long should this take?” Tony shouted. Thor looked over. 

“Not too long.” he yelled back in answer. Tony nodded and bit his lip again to distract himself from the pain. 

How long was ‘not too long’? 

Warmth began to spread across Tony’s body, and the light faded. 

He blinked a few times, and then the room around him began to appear. 

People stood staring at him, and there were bright lights around him. 

Then he saw them all. 

Natasha, standing there pretending to be strong. 

Steve, broken and bruised beyond repair. 

Bruce, hiding in his work. 

And there were more.

Rhodey, the raccoon, the soldier and the princess.

Clutching his chest, Tony stumbled forward. 

“Is this all that’s left?” He asked. Steve nodded. 

“Yes.”

Everything went black. 

________________________________________

 

Bright lights. 

A table. 

Pain. 

“Good morning, Mr. Stark,” Said a voice. For a moment, Tony thought it was Peter. Peter, back again, alive,  _ okay. _

But he opened his eyes and it wasn’t. 

“My name is Shuri,” The girl said. She was bandaging Tony’s chest. “You lost quite a lot of blood.” She continued. 

“Where- where am I?” Tony asked. 

“Wakanda.” Shuri answered.

“Wakanda?” Tony wondered, and looked around him. Technology spanning only his wildest dreams surrounded him. 

“You’ll be unsteady on your feet for the first few days,” Shuri explained, and helped him get up. “Even with the vibranium, we couldn’t fully heal you.” She said in a rush. 

“T-thanks.” Tony said, standing. 

“Tony,” Natasha said as she entered the room. 

“Hey, Nat.” he said. 

“You feeling better?” She asked. 

“I’m about as good as you feel,” he said, reading her. She frowned.

“What?” 

“Don’t act like I can’t tell. You’re-- We’re all shaken after…” He trailed off. 

“Yeah.” Natasha breathed. 

“Tell you what though, they got shawarma here?” Tony asked. Natasha shook her head.

“You’d think after we opened ourselves to the world, we’d have at least gotten a Starbucks.” Shuri said. Natasha smiled weakly and lead Tony outside. 

“I should tell you, though, you shouldn’t mention Bucky at all to Tony.” She said. 

“Oh?” 

“He’s taken it all pretty hard, blaming this all on himself. Bu-- it all just reminds him of what we’ve lost.” Natasha explained. Tony nodded. 

“I heard-- well, I think, that Steve was-”

“In love with him?” Natasha said. Tony nodded again. “I’m not surprised. Every now and then, when we were on the run, Steve would disappear for a few days.” She said. “He must’ve been here.” 

“So Vision’s gone, too?” Tony asked. 

“Shuri and Bruce are making him a new Vibranium body right now. Shuri managed to download some of Vis' consciousness before Thanos took the mind stone.” 

“She seems smart.” Tony said. 

“Shuri? She’s brilliant.” Natasha said. “She’s been sulking, though. Her brother died. He was the king, so I assume she’ll be queen now.” Tony nodded, lost in thought. He looked out into the forest, and saw Steve there. 

“How is he?” Tony said. 

“About as good as the rest of us.” Natasha answered. “He goes into the forest a lot. He’s quiet.” 

“Do you think he’ll…”

“We need him, like it or not.” 

“I know, Nat.” Tony sighed. “I was sure, so sure, that he was gonna kill me in Russia.” 

“And?” 

“And he didn’t.” 

“Why is that important?” Natasha asked. Tony looked at Steve again.

“He’s the one keeping us together, Nat. I split us apart.” He paused. “You don’t need me.” 

“Yes we do, idiot.” Natasha said. “Thanos just killed  _ half the galaxy,  _ Tony. We need everyone we can get.” 

“Can we bring the others back?” Tony asked. 

“I swear, if one more person asks that…” Natasha muttered to herself. 

“There has to be a way.” Tony said. “Nat, a kid died in my arms.” Natasha looked at him. 

“The Spider-kid?” She asked. 

“His name was Peter.” 

“Oh.” 

“I owe it to him to bring him back.” Tony said. 

“To him, or yourself?” Natasha asked. 

“We owe it to  _ everyone _ , Nat. We have to get them back.” Tony whispered. 

“And to do that, Tony, we need all of us.” Natasha said.

“I know.” Tony whispered. 

“So stop blaming yourself.” Natasha said. “None of us could’ve predicted this.” Tony nodded. 

“Had to give everyone else that speech, too?” he asked. Natasha shook her head. 

“Not the raccoon.” She said. 

“Does it… talk?” Tony asked. Natasha nodded. 

“It’s from space.” 

“That’s weird.” Tony said. 

“Yeah.” 

Tony looked out into the forest again. Steve stood up from where he was kneeling. He turned and looked to where Tony and Natasha stood. 

Tony smiled, and Steve smiled back. 

So maybe things were turning okay after all. 

Tony watched Steve as he walked towards them. 

“You feeling better?” Steve asked. Tony nodded. He studied Steve. He’d shaven his beard, and his hands were covered in tiny scars. 

“Look, Steve, i’m sorry.” Tony said. Steve sighed. 

“Honestly, Tony, that doesn’t even matter now.” He said. Tony nodded. 

“I think we both know what really matters,” He said. 

“We have to get them back.” Steve whispered. 

“All of them.” Tony agreed. 

“What are we waiting for?” 


	5. Chapter Five

Steve felt bad for punching the tree. He felt bad for breaking all the punching bags in the palace’s gym, and he felt bad for all the other trees he’d punched that day. 

This one stood in front of him, refusing to break. 

“You’re not going to bring him back by punch that tree, you know.” A voice said from behind Steve. He turned to see Shuri standing there. 

“I know.” His voice was rough, hard, devoid of emotion. 

“You’re going to break the ring,” Shuri said. Steve looked down at the golden wedding band on his right hand, a memory of everything he’d had. And everything he’d lost. “We don’t make them out of vibranium.” 

“I know.” It was all he could say. 

“You should come inside,” She murmured. “You can’t stay out here all day.”

“He did.” Steve choked. 

“I know,” It was Shuri’s turn to be silent. She looked out into the forest, where she could envision the last moments of her brother’s life. 

_ “Get up, this is no place to die,”  _

“I’m sorry about him,” Steve said. Shuri sighed and looked back to Steve. 

“He’ll be back.” Shuri spoke, more as if she was assuring herself instead of Steve. “As will the White Wolf,” She eyed Steve hands where tiny cuts matched the slim ring. 

“That’s what everyone keeps saying,” Steve whispered. “But I can’t understand how.” He stared off into the distance. It was silent for a while.

“The woman named Nebula said something about a soul stone.” Shuri said, breaking the blanket of silence that fell like snow in the winter. At least, not in Wakanda. 

“I just-- I just can’t help feeling like there’s going to be some sort of sacrifice,” Steve said. “Like one of us is…” He stopped, the words drying in his throat. He couldn’t say it. 

“Going to die?” Shuri said it for him. Steve gulped and nodded. 

“Am I going crazy, Shuri?” He finally asked. Shuri shook her head. 

“Not crazy,” She smiled a little, the way he’d seen her smile when T’Challa had said that Wakanda could officiate a marriage. “Just unnecessarily grieving.” 

“I remember you being quite affected as well, when you heard.” Steve said. Shuri nodded. 

“I did, yes, but then I realized that there’s no point on grieving someone you can bring back.” Shuri picked at some dust under her nail. “And I realized that I might as well be part of the team that helps do just that.” She added, looking Steve dead in the eye with such ferocity it matched that of Pepper Potts. 

“You’re a character, you know that, right?” Steve smiled to himself, as if the casual banter with Shuri could actually hide the pain from being away from… 

He wouldn’t say it. 

“I’m quite aware of that.” Shuri said. “Now get to your boyfriend Tony in my lab. He said he wanted to talk to you.” She added again. Steve winced at the word boyfriend, as that was a term he’d used not so long ago with…. It took him too long to realize she was joking. 

“I’m  _ married, _ Shuri.” Steve finally laughed, forcing himself to do so, to chuckle as if they were old friends. Shuri smirked. 

“And  _ I’m  _ the queen of Wakanda.” She teased. 

“You  _ are  _ the Queen of Wakanda.” Steve reminded her. Shuri sighed and gave Steve a look that said it all:  _ yes, don’t remind me.  _

“At least i’ll do something good around here.” She said, and began stepping off lively to the palace. 

“And what is that?” Steve asked, taking a few strides to catch up with her. 

“ _ I’m  _ getting us a Starbucks.” Shuri declared triumphantly. Steve shook his head, remembering the love Wakandans had for Starbucks. In fact, when he’d visited… anyhow, he’d had to promise to bring Okoye her favorite: Venti Mocha Frappuccino. It wasn’t long until Okoye had gotten Shuri hooked, and soon T’Challa blamed Steve for Wakanda obsession with the coffee chain. 

“And you’re determined to do so?” Steve asked, laughing a little. Shuri nodded proudly. 

“I feel it’s time to do some good in this world.” Shuri said, as if she hadn’t done anything to change the turn of history. As they spoke, the heart pumps of her own invention were being shipped to hospitals around the world to help prevent heart attacks, and countless other of her inventions were saving lives daily. While he was Nomad, Steve had heard someone call her the Benjamin Franklin of the modern day. Steve had shaken his head, laughing, because Shuri was anything but that. She was humble and kind, she’d taken in Bucky, and most of all she’d made him marginally less… screwed up… than he’d been ever since Steve was a stickly skinny kid from Brooklyn. 

“You’ve done more good in this world than you know,” Steve said, his tone serious. Shuri nodded and looked to him. 

“There’s more we can do.” She said, and motioned her head to the door of her lab where everyone else was waiting. Steve nodded and looked to the King’s (in this case Queen’s) guard that stood in front of the door. The woman looked to Shuri, who nodded, and gave the Wakandan salute. The guard saluted back and opened the door for Steve. 

“Steve,” Tony said, nodding to him as he entered. Everyone was assembled in the room. Nat, Bruce, and Rhodey were all on one side of a huge metal chamber that had filled the room, not unlike the one Vision was born in back when Ultron was their biggest concern. On the other side were Nebula, Thor and the talking Raccoon accordingly named “Rocket,”. 

“Tony.” Steve said curtly as he walked in the door. Even though they’d set their differences aside and joined together, Steve would always have Nomad in him; he’d always have that hateful, spiteful creature that hated Tony with every fiber of his being. Still, he’d left Tony the burner phone after the war. 

Maybe he wasn’t too far from repair. 

“Who talks first? you talk first? I talk first?” Tony said after a moment. “Standing there all grand and glorified…” He muttered under his breath, undignified at something or rather. Most likely, it was the fact that Shuri’d beaten all of his grand knowledge down into the ground the second he’d stepped into her lab the first time after being healed. 

“Anyways, we started building the vibranium body for Vision,” Shuri said, heading over to her set of screens that showed diagrams and whatnot that Steve couldn’t understand. 

“How long will that take?” Steve asked. Shuri shrugged. 

“Fabricating it is what will be short,” Bruce explained. “Then we need to fit it to Vision’s mind.” He began swiping through things on a screen on the chamber. Steve had then assumed it was what was creating Vision’s new body. 

“And then what do we do?” Steve asked. Natasha looked at him. 

“We get everyone back, obviously.” She said. 

“About that,” Said a new voice most of them had yet to hear. Heads jerked to the sound of Rocket speaking up, finally. 

“It talks?” Bruce asked, but his question was drowned out.

“Yes?” Thor asked, having clearly developed a bond with the raccoon. 

“It’s going to be dangerous, right?” he paused, remembering back to the good old days when the most he’d worry about was being caught by the Nova Corps. “Saving the galaxy stuff, right?” 

“Do you  _ ever  _ lose the thought of hiking up your prices?” Nebula muttered from the corner. Natasha looked over to her. 

“Hmm?” She asked. Nebula shook her head and sighed. 

“ _ Anyways, _ ” Nebula rolled her mechanical eyes. “I have a theory,” 

“She speaks!” Tony jeered from the other end of the room, sitting cross legged on a table with a bowl of cereal in his hands. Natasha rolled her eyes at him and raised a not so subtle finger at him. Tony shrugged and began to eat his cereal. 

Steve wanted to laugh at this casual banter, one could tell. But he couldn’t, seeing as…

“The infinity stones.” Nebula said. It was Tony’s turn to roll his eyes. 

“The six magical rocks that can destroy the universe?” He laughed at his own joke. 

“In short, yes.” Nebula continued. “But I’m talking about one in particular.” She said.

“The soul--” Thor started, and Nebula shot him a glare before nodding. 

“No one knows what it does,” She said, glancing at them each in turn. 

“Why do we care so much about this one rock?” Tony asked. 

“Heimdall once said it had the power to transport souls to an alternate dimension,” Thor said. Tony whistled. 

“Sounds powerful,” He murmured, voice muffled by a gulp of the sugary cereal. 

“It is,” Nebula explained. “What if--”

“What if everyone is inside the stone?” Thor asked. Nebula nodded. 

“Inside the stone?” Rocket asked. Rhodey shook his head in disbelief. 

“You’re asking me to believe that my best friend is inside a rock?” He asked. 

“Yes.” Nebula answered. Steve shook his head and sat down. 

“So how do we get them out?” He finally asked. 

“That… that’s the real question.” Nebula answered. Her mechanical brain cogs and gears would’ve moved if she’d had any idea. For once, though, her voice seemed to have crossed the gap between robot and human and had rested painfully with the humanity inside her, reaching out to Steve’s pain.

“Brilliant,” Steve muttered, shaking his head. 

“I mean, what do we do, after we get Vision back?” Tony asked. “Is he gonna have some sort of plan, or…?” Steve watched him as he took another bite of cereal. 

The room fell into silence, each wondering what their next step was. 

Finally, Steve got up in exasperation. 

“Steve--” Natasha argued, but Steve shook his head. 

“I’m going to train,” He muttered, before shoving past the door. And, in all Reality, his problems. 

 

***

 

Steve was well aware that Natasha was watching him. From the table set up near where he was ‘training’, she sipped her coffee slowly, her eyes piercing judgemental. 

Steve restlessly threw another punch, although it was careless. He didn’t really care, and it’s not like he needed to train anyways. He’d needed a distraction. A way to get his mind off of things. Of…. him. 

Shuri had provided him with stronger punching bags, these made of more finely woven vibranium, after he’d broken all the rest. That seemed to be a habit of Steve’s. 

Memories flashed through Steve’s mind as he threw another woeful punch and glared at the bag. 

First, it was Nick Fury, back when Steve has just gotten out of the ice. He was back in Brooklyn, before all of this had happened. 

_ “We’ve got a mission for you,” “Ever heard of the tesseract?”  _

Before fighting Loki, in the battle of New York. 

_ “The Avengers initiative.” “A plan to gather Earth’s mightiest heroes, in case we should ever need them.”  _

And then it was fighting Hydra, rooting deep down into SHIELD's depths to get them all out. 

And then it was him. 

The first time Steve had seen him on the bridge, those brown-blue eyes he’d never forget. He’d known those eyes all his life, from smiles on the playground to stolen kisses in the alleys of Brooklyn. 

It all came back to him, (not that he’d ever lost it), the ash and whiskey colored hair that trailed down perfectly, like little arrows pointing to his heart. The shape of his face that fit so perfectly in Steve’s hands, and that smile-- that smile. The smile that had lit of Steve’s world. 

Steve shook his head, coming out of the trance, and threw a hard, but half hearted, punch at the bag. 

“Wow, you’re not even pretending to care.” Natasha quipped, setting down her cup. Steve looked over to her and sighed dejectedly, going to sit down next to her. 

“You’ve been here a while,” Steve said. Natasha mocked flattery. 

“Oh, you noticed!” She placed a hand dramatically over her chest as if she were clutching her pearls. Steve shook his head. 

“What’s troubling you, Nat?” He asked after both had gone quiet. 

“I’m here to ask what’s troubling  _ you, _ ” Natasha answered. Steve sighed and fiddled with the ring on his finger. 

“Too much.” Steve responded. 

“Oh?” 

“I just don’t quite get it, Nat.” He explained. “It’s like… it’s like you’ve got everything ripped away from you, and then you’re handed a list of instructions on how to get it back, but the instructions are in a wildly different language that no one understands.” 

“What an analogy,” Natasha sighed and took another sip of her coffee. Steve sighed and nodded, again fiddling with his ring. Natasha eyed it for a moment before nodding to herself. “You and Barnes?” She asked. Steve looked at her for a moment, shocked. 

“How did you-?” He asked, bewildered. Natasha shrugged. 

“All the Wakandans seem to know you, and you’d disappear every once in awhile back when…” She stared off into the distance, where she saw Tony working in Shuri’s lab with Bruce. 

“You and Banner?” Steve asked. Natasha shook her head. 

“Maybe once, but… not anymore. There’s more important things to be focusing on.” She explained. Steve shook his head, his eyes shadowing his past. 

“You, know, I thought that once, too.” He said, his voice almost sympathetic towards Natasha. “And then this happened.” Steve spread his arms out as if to say;  _ all of this, gone.  _

“Okay, so?”

“What I’m trying to say is, take your time while you can.” Steve stood and began to walk towards the team’s barra-- no, rooms-- in the palace. 

“Before there’s no time left?” Natasha asked. Steve turned and flashed his knowing Captain America smile, because even though he was broken and barely living without his other half, the world didn’t need Steve Rogers, or Nomad, or whatever name he’d gone by other than the one the world needed. 

The world needed Captain America. 

“Exactly.” 

 

***

 

The world needed Captain America, yes, so that left Steve Rogers to huddle alone in the corner of his room, knees pulled to his chest like he was a scrawny little kid again. 

His eyes were dark and dreary, just like the sky outside that boomed with thunder that was only a constant reminder to everyone of what they’d lost, because it was created by one who felt the same. Thor, of course, hadn’t meant for the tiny maelstrom that raged outside of the windows, but the painstaking loss of his brother had gotten him there. It wasn’t Nebula’s fault, either, for talking to him drunk (as drunk as she herself could be, what with being part metal and with the God of Thunder drinking to end his sorrows next to her) and telling him the stories she’d heard from the Trickster God while he was imprisoned on Thanos’ ship so long ago.  _ “He told my the stories of Asgard, the golden city, of everything…”  _ Her metalic voice echoed in Steve brain, and Thor’s jolly laughter that hid the hole in his heart that came after echoed alongside it. But then the laughter faded and they were left with nothing but pain, awful, biting pain that they couldn’t ignore, and the storm began. Steve had sat alone at dinner, partly because he didn’t want them to know he refused to eat-- ‘’m not hungry, Nat.’-- and that he didn’t want them to see how broken he really was. He’d tried so hard, tried to pretend that he’d be alright, that they’d get him back, that everything would be alright, but he’d failed, because even though they all planned like they knew everything, there was still that awful word that ruined it all:  _ might.  _ They  _ might  _ be in the Soul Stone. They  _ might  _ not have to fight Thanos. 

They  _ might  _ be alive. 

Steve wasn’t Captain America; he wasn’t some strong and powerful  _ Avenger,  _ he was nothing. 

He was Steve Rogers. 

And he let himself cry, sob, like the pounding and raging storm outside. 

“I don’t know where I am.” Steve looked up, his head searching for the sound of the voice that had awoken him from this dreamy, sleepy state. 

The rain still poured outside. 

Steve was still here, and… and he was still gone. 

“Please, please, I don’t know where I am,” The voice pleaded with nothingness, Steve the only one in the room and yet the voice shot like one of Hawkeye’s arrows through it. 

“Please,” the voice pleaded. Steve frowned, the voice sounding young, like… like a kid. Sighing, Steve got up and looked around the room. He looked under the bed and opened the door, looking up and down the hallway to find the kid that had spoken. 

“I’m scared,” The voice whimpered, seeming from inside the room. Steve turned and sat on his bed, exhausted. The voice was nothing, he was just going crazy. Crazy from love, crazy from everything that had happened. 

“Is anyone there?” The voice asked, and Steve shook his head. It  _ sounded  _ real… and if it was a kid… 

“Shh, it’s gonna be okay.” Steve whispered gently, assured he was crazy, but why not give it a shot. 

“Who are you-- I can’t see you,” The voice asked. Steve shook his head at himself. 

“My name is Steve Rogers.” He said after a moment. The voice seemed to give a little laugh, happy to have found comfort. “What’s your name?” Steve asked, officially assuring himself he was insane.

“My name is Peter. Peter Parker.”


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My lord, it’s been a month and a half since I last posted.  
> Wow.  
> Guys, I’m really sorry about that. I’ll be completely honest with you, though, it’s because I just couldn’t bring myself to write. My depression has been really bad lately, and I know that’s not an excuse, but it’s almosg like I couldn’t write. Normally, it brings me joy, but I simply could find the words.  
> I guess all it took was a little Thor Ragnarok and a trip to Disneyland (um, Disneyland Loki anyone??) to get me back on track. I’ll admit it really is the happiest and most anti writer’s block place on earth.  
> Thankfully, all of that’s done now. (Well, hopefully. Knock on wood.) I’m starting to write chapter seven, and that will be up ASAP.  
> edit: I wrote this chapter before seeing Ant Man and the Wasp. Some things have been a bit changed, but I guess that means that it's original. For the most part, it lines up, so we should be all good. However, if you find a major issue please message me so I can fix it :) . 
> 
> Thank you all so much for understanding. It really is my joy to write for you guys. Seeing your lovely comments brightens my day. (And you know the kudos is great, too.) I don’t know where Who I’d be if I didn’t have you.  
> So enjoy chapter six.  
> And thanks for sticking with me! 
> 
> all my love

Clint Barton had been deaf all of his life. Sometimes sound faded in and out, even with his SHIELD administered hearing aides. Sometimes, it was there perfect as a ringing church bell. 

And other days, it wasn’t there at all. 

Clint Barton may have been deaf all his life, but he didn’t need aides to hear his wife’s screams. 

It was all a blur to him, and he could count the moments between each heartbeat and the next. 

He found himself running upstairs. Running to their shared room, he found himself looking at him wife. She stood in the doorway, collapsed to her knees. 

He body shook with sobs, terrified, awful sobs that Clint never wanted to hear again. 

He took a step forward, gently and carefully. He placed a hand on his Laura’s shoulder. 

“What happened?” He whispered. Laura looked up at him in shock. Disbelief and grief etched into her face, she grabbed his hand with her shaking own one. 

“ _ They’re gone.”  _  The words hung heavy in Clint’s heart and he turned and saw splattered ashes near the door of Lila and Cooper’s room. He turned back to see ashes covering his wife’s arms where she had been holding Nathaniel. 

“Laura…?” He said cautiously, confused. Laura leaned forward and buried her face in his chest. 

“They’re gone, Clint.” Her muffled mumbles were soft, almost as if they weren’t there. 

“Laura, who? Who’s gone?” Clint asked. Laura looked up as she choked on a sob. 

“C-c-c-Clint,” She stuttered in horror as the tips of her fingers began to evaporate into… ash. It seemed as if time slowed down between the seconds. It was like the universe was having one last laugh as Clint watched Laura in horror. 

Suddenly, Clint Barton didn’t need to hear to know that his wife had been screaming not because of the ash but because the ash was their children. 

Laura sobbed harder and held onto Clint, pressing her face into his chest as her hand, her arm, everything just became ash. Clint tried to hold onto her, but she faded away. 

Away into nothing. 

Just ash.

Clint Barton didn’t know how long he’d stayed there, on his knees, silent tears falling down. He didn’t need to. 

But there was something else he needed to do. 

At some point, he wasn’t sure when, he stood. He entered his former room and pulled on a book on a bookshelf that would open a secret safe. Somewhere, from his memory, he remembered the password to the safe. And somehow, he looked up through his salty vision to see his old bow and quiver, stashed away here after the fall of SHIELD. 

The last time he’d held that bow was the battle of New York. He’d switched bows, of course, before they fought with Ultron. And he’d destroyed that bow, the memories of a certain Pietro Maximoff haunting him. 

Back then, the world didn’t need a Clint Barton. And by the looks of the news, they didn’t need one now. 

No, the world didn’t need a Clint Barton. 

They didn’t need the deaf secret agent spy boy who still went home to his wife and kids.

The world needed Hawkeye. 

Or now, better known as Ronin. 

 

***

 

Scott Lang was lost in the quantum realm. 

To be quite frank, there really was no other way to say it. 

Scott Lang was undeniably, unquestionably, screwed. 

Of course, he was unaware of it. In his mind, it was just a bit of disconnection, nothing more. 

But the universe is cruel in many ways. 

No, it was no “radio disconnection” that was the reason his team up in reality weren’t responding. 

It was, simply put, because they were dead. 

Dead on the ground. No corpse to prove it, only three piles of ash and dust. 

The woman saw them as she entered the room where she’s heard screaming. Her eyes, showing bravery that she was taught, were masking an undeniable fear behind them. Her mind flashed back to images of screaming— her friends, her family, all of them… screaming. 

When she finally came into the room she found nothing but the piles of ash and dust. 

Ash and dust. 

Dead.

Dead.

Ash and dust. 

Like the ones outside. 

They weren’t bodies like those of her family. They were silent, undeniable marks of failure. 

The man had told her this is what would happen if Earth’s Mightiest Heroes failed. She remembered watching as his blue eyes glistened before he’d said his one last goodbye. 

He was dead now, too. 

She wondered if anyone else had survived the awful horror. 

Who else had survived.

Most of all, she wondered, who was the voice? 

She studied the screen, puzzled. 

“Hello?” She heard, a soft and almost fearful whisper painted against the silence. The woman stood still, unsure of herself and what to say. “Hope? Hank? Is anyone there?” The voice asked again, getting ever more wary as the seconds dragged on. The woman took a deep breath, remembering what she’d been told—“Be brave, be brave.” The face of the man was etched into her memory as he whispered this words to her. As alarms and her people screamed around them, he held her face in his hands. His eyes burned into hers as she whispered, “I’m afraid.” But he only smiled and said it again. 

“Be brave.” She found herself whispering. 

“What?” The voice from the monitors asked. The woman sighed heavily and leaned in. 

“What is your name?” She asked. The voice stopped for a second before responding.

“Scott Lang. Who is this?” A question and an answer, but neither matched. 

“I’m here to help.” The woman responded. She had no identity anymore, not after… 

“Where’s Hope? And Hank, and Janet?” Scott asked. The woman glanced down to the ash on the floor and shivered. She assumed them to be whatever remained of the said Hope, Hank, and Janet. 

“I’m not sure.” The woman lied. She heard Scott sigh. 

“Do you know how to get me out?” Scott asked after the two had descended into silence. 

“No.” She answered. 

“I think I do. Let me guide you,” Scott said reassuringly, as if he could sense the devastation that had occurred. Soon, Scott Lang was blinking back into consciousness in reality.

He blinked up at the woman, studying her carefully. Her long brown hair hung freely down to her waist, complimenting her hazel eyes and caramel skin. She wore greyish blue armor and a sword hung at her side. 

“Who  _ are _ you?” Scott asked, intrigued. The woman sighed. 

“No one.” She answered, her voice grief ridden. Scott was silent as he studied the room. His face fell as he saw the ash piles on the floor. 

“Is that…?” He whispered, quietly sinking to his knees. The woman nodded to answer his question. 

“I believe so.” 

Scott had to bite away the tears that threatened him. There were more pressing matters at hand. 

“So how did this happen?” He asked, looking up at the woman. 

“Have you heard of Thanos?” 

 

***

 

By god, Natasha would not leave Steve alone. 

“You need to eat, Steve!” She insisted, shoving a bowl of cereal in his face. Steve shook his head pushed it back at her.

“I’m  _ fine,  _ Natasha.” He grumbled. 

“No, you’re not. You’re starving yourself out of grief.” She pushed the cereal back at Steve, and threw a spoon at his face. The spoon hit his forehead with a  _ clunk _ and tumbled down into his lap. 

“ _ Nat!”  _ Steve muttered, utterly scandalized and confused. 

“ _ Eat.”  _ She persisted, grabbing the box and throwing that, too, at Steve. Steve gave in and ate a spoonful of the cereal, glaring at Natasha. 

“ _ There.”  _ He said, pushing the bowl back at her. Natasha pushed it back.

“All of it.” She growled, shooting her best ‘i’m a deadly Russian assassin’ glare at Steve. Steve gave in and took another bite. 

It was no use arguing with her. 

Steve, of course, hasn’t slept much.

Not after the voice. 

After it had introduced itself, the voice had gone oddly quiet, but Steve was still too shaken up to urge on sleep. 

“About last night,” Natasha said after a moment. Steve looked up at her from the cereal. 

“What about it?” He asked. 

“I heard you talking to someone in your room. Who was it?” Natasha asked, curious. Steve froze. 

Shit.

Could she have heard Peter? What if she did, what could Steve say? But even worse, what if she didn’t? 

“I’m just going crazy, Nat.” Steve decided on saying. Natasha raised an eyebrow. 

“You we’re talking to yourself?” She asked in disbelief. Steve nodded. 

“First you’re married, now this.” Natasha muttered, getting up from the table and looking out the window at Wakanda. It was peaceful for a moment, quiet and tranquil, and… okay. As okay is everything could possible be right now, with half of the universe possibly dead. 

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from across the palace. Natasha and Steve stood up and glanced at each other. 

“Last one there’s-“ 

“ _ Shut up Natasha!” _  Steve yelled as he ran to the source of the noise. He came to a stop when he saw the burning remains of a plane in the field before him. 

“What the…” He breathed. 

“How did it get through the barrier?” Natasha asked from behind him. She gasped when suddenly, a figure dressed in black rolled out of the wreckage of the plane.

“That’s a military class plane,” Steve heard Tony say from behind him, unsurprised to see him in the full Iron Man suit. Natasha reached for her gun as the figure got up and walked towards them. 

“How did it—?” Shuri said in a rush, having also just arrived. “My god, something let it in…” Shuri muttered, utterly horrified. 

“Holy shit... that’s a Quinjet prototype,” Tony gasped. “What the hell is going on here?” 

All unanswered questions.

“Who are you?” Steve shouted to the masked figure. The figure turned back to the plane and seemed to sigh. 

“Someone you forgot about.” The figure shouted, muffled from the mask and flames. As they neared the group of heroes standing on the hill, he walked with less confidence. 

“Is that… all of you?” The figure asked, sounding terrified. Natasha lowered her gun and nodded. The figure pulled off its mask. Natasha leaned down and pulled the figure into a hug. 

“Nat who the hell is this?” Steve asked, utterly and completely confused. Natasha let go of the man as he looked up. 

His face was weary and worn, showing grief and pain and sadness. His hair was cropped shorter than the last time they’d seen him. 

He still carried a bow slung across his back, along with two quivers (he’d learned his lesson after the battle of New York.), but now he also carried a set of Katana swords crossed in an x on his back. 

“ _ Clint?”  _ Tony gasped, astonished. Clint Barton stood and shrugged at Tony.

“Yeah.” He muttered. 

“What’s with the all black ninja look?” Tony asked, curious. Clint sighed, glancing at Natasha. 

“It’s… a long story.” Clint explained. 

“Why’d you ask if we’re all that’s left?” Steve asked. “I’m not dumb, Steve. I’ve seen the news.” Clint’s voice was steely, hiding something. 

“What’s wrong?” Natasha asked, hearing the pain in his voice. Clint looked at the ground. He was silent for a while before he spoke. 

“Laura, Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel…” He whispered. “They’re gone.” Everyone was silent as Natasha hugged Clint again. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, as if that could take away the pain and suffering that all of them had dealt with. As if the word “I’m sorry” could do anything more that assure Clint that she had lost people too. 

That they all had. 

The moment was over all too soon as Shuri loudly cleared her throat. 

“If I may interject,” she began, pure anger running through her voice. Natasha stepped away, backing away with the others and Shuri stormed up to Clint. 

“How in the hell did you get through the barrier?!” She shouted. Clint took a step back, never imagining that a teenager could be this terrifying. 

“I don’t know, I just got in the plane and if started flying here! And then the barrier opened!” Clint insisted, his hands up in a ‘i swear I’m innocent’ pose. Shuri glared daggers at him, turned away to her tablet to check that the barrier was intact. 

Clint let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding as he leaned in to Natasha. 

“Is she always like that?” He asked. Natasha sighed. 

“She just lost her brother, Clint.” Nat explained. “But one thing I learned my first day here- never,  _ ever,  _ mess with her tech.” Clint nodded in fear as he watched the teenage queen run to her lab. 

“Well then, I guess we should go check on the others.” Tony mumbled. Clint sighed. 

“Yeah.” What else was there to say?

 

***

 

Scott Lang burst down the door to his old home of such a hurry he’d forgotten to even check if it was locked. He ran into the house, frantic, to find a pile of ash sitting in the kitchen. 

“ _ No, no, no, no, no.”  _ He muttered, fearful of what he might find when he went upstairs. Shoving down the lump in his throat, he ran up the stairs into his daughter’s room. He heard terrified sniffling in the corner, and instantly turned to see his daughter. 

“Oh Cassie, thank god,” he said, picking her up and hugging her as if that would assure him that she was alive and real. Cassie sobbed into his shoulder, her face wet with old tears. Scott turned around to see more ashes, the ashes of what he could only assume to be Peggy. Cassie shook with sobs as she cried out for her mother. Scott rubbed her back as he carried her down the stairs, careful to avoid the kitchen. 

He nodded at the woman as he left the house. Cassie held on to him like she had after his fight with Yellow Jacket. 

“Gone?” The woman asked. Scott nodded. 

“Where do we go now?” He asked. The woman looked at the gathering of people outside the house. Her people. Her family.

“I think I know a guy.” She said, looking to Scott. 

“That’s incredibly stereotypical.” Scott commented. 

“Isn’t this all?” The woman shrugged. 

“Yeah.” 

 

***

 

Loki knew what was happening the moment he saw that ship. He turned to Thor, pure fear on his face. 

“What?” Thor asked. 

“It’s Thanos.” Loki explained. Thor turned, motioning for Heimdall to set off the Asgardian distress signal. The ship started into commotion as it happened, everyone scurrying about. Thor ran to Brunnlehide. 

“Take as many as you can onto the escape pods,” he explained. Brunnlehide looked at him, confused.

“What? Who is it?” She asked. Thor looked back at Loki, who stood staring out the window at the other ship. 

“Thanos.” Thor answered. Brunnlehide gulped and nodded. “Any warriors wishing to stay can, but anyone else should be loaded into the pods.” He continued. Brunnlehide nodded. 

“I’ll get them in and send them off.” She said, turning. 

“No,” Thor grabber her arm to stop her. “I need you to go with them.” 

“Excuse me?” Brunnlehide asked. “I’m staying behind!” She shouted angrily. Thor shook his head. 

“I need you to lead them!” He explained. Brunnlehide shook her head. 

“So send loki!” She shot. Thor shook his head. 

“The likelihood of us dying is incredibly high. I— we— need you to go.” He said gently. Brunnlehide bit her lip and grumbled. 

“ _ Fine.”  _ She said, and began barking orders to get people into escape pods. 

Minutes later, she sent off the last pod, with one left for her. 

“I’m sorry about all of this.” She heard a voice say. She turned to see Loki standing there. 

“Oh really?” She asked, tears beginning to fall down her face. 

“I need you to take something for me and keep it safe,” Loki said softly, taking out a pouch from behind has back. Brunnlehide nodded and held her hand out.

“Whatever for the  _ Prince of Asgard. _ ” She shot bitterly. Loki handed her the pouch and stood back. They watched each other for a moment, just standing there as the alarms blared. Then Loki took a step forward and they were undeniably close. 

“You’re sorry, eh?” Brunnlehide muttered. 

“Unbelievably.” Loki answered, taking another step closer so that they were almost touching. He took her face is his hands and she relaxed at his touch. 

“Be brave.” He whispered.

“I’m afraid.” She mumbled.

“Be brave,” he repeated. “Be a Valkyrie.” Their foreheads touched and they stood there, silent. 

And then came the screaming. Loki jumped. 

“Go,” Brunnlehide whispered. Loki smiled at her. 

“I promise you, the sun will shine on us again.” He said before turning and running from her one last time. 

That was all that Brunnlehide could remember as she hide behind a corner, tears streaming down her face as Loki held up the tesseract to Thanos. 

“We have a hulk,” She heard him say, and jump to his brother. Every muscle in her body screamed to go to him, to stay and fight. But she didn’t, she stayed where she was hidden. 

And that was the rush of guilt she felt as she watched him die. 

And the pain she felt as his brother cried over him. 

And she wished she could to.

And she knew, the sun would not shine on them again. 

Not even after he had glanced in her direction. 

Not even as she escaped in her pod.

Not even as she discovered what was inside the pouch he had given her. 

Because she had done nothing to save him. She’s stayed in her place as she’d watched him die. 

And yes, she’d lead the rest of her people. 

Yes, she’d find Thanos and kill him in the most painful way she could imagine.

But she’d never get him back.

And it was all her fault.

So she would be a leader of Asgard, but a nameless one. One without need for glory. 

Because he’d told her to be a Valkyrie.

But all she’d been was a coward. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I got Instagram! (FINALLY)  
> You can follow my personal account- @avery.graced
> 
> Or the lgbtq+ support account that I am an admin on- @gays3.6
> 
> Thank you guys so much for everything. I love you so much you don’t even know. Have an amazing week! 
> 
> I’ll see you all soon. Until then, all my love
> 
> @riverlone <3


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, I know I said I was gonna post on Saturday but I didn’t finish the chapter by then, and then I went on a cruise so today’s been the most recent time I’ve been able to post. (Wow that was a lot.) chapter eight is about 2/3 done, and I’m hoping to post it tomorrow or Thursday while I’m in Mexico. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I’ll see you at the end. 
> 
> <3

Steven Grant Rogers was alone in his room again for the second night in a row.   
It was the third night since… forever that he’d been alone at all during the darker hours of the day.   
When he was Nomad, a war criminal, on the run, Nat usually arranged safe houses at night for them to stay in. “Houses” being a broad, generous term.   
And Steve’s mind couldn’t help but drift to that night only a few weeks before…   
~  
Bucky had insisted on keeping the hut. As much as Steve tried, he wouldn’t abandon his goats, not even for a night,   
“Yeah, but do we at least want another bed?” Steve reasoned. Bucky glared at him from across the hut as he braided his hair.   
“We shared a bed all the time before.” Bucky said after a few moments. “And I’m down a limb. So you being that much bigger evens out.”   
Steve had to admit, his reasoning wasn’t entirely wrong.   
Bucky finished braiding his hair and laid down next to Steve.   
The shine of the stars outside the slits of the hut’s roof gave just enough light so that Steve could see how close he and Bucky were.   
“Buck?” Steve called out through the quiet. Bucky grumbled.   
“Yeah, Stevie?” He mumbled. Steve smiled and laced his fingers into Bucky’s.   
“Is this-”  
“It’s perfect,” Bucky whispered. He brought their intertwined hands up to his lips and kissed Steve’s hand gently.   
Steve shivered and held Bucky’s hand tighter. It was a sign, I love you.   
They didn’t say it much, but it was there.   
Back in the forties, it had been subtle touches, eyes only for each other.   
But now, they could be free. Open. They didn’t have to hide who they were.   
They could kiss, middle fingers up in front of a crowd of protesters.   
Or, they could simply hold hands with rainbow flags in their hair.   
Now, the possibilities were endless. Because now, there was no hiding love.   
Still, those subtle glances and whispered and squeezes were just enough sometimes to get them by.   
“Goodnight, Stevie.” Bucky whispered.   
“Goodnight, Buck,” Steve whispered back.   
Although, oddly enough neither did much sleeping that night.   
~  
Steve was alone.   
No matter how much better things got- he was alone.   
Yes, Vision’s body may have been ready to be uploaded with his life again, but that didn’t change the fact that half of the universe was dead. Okay, sure, getting Vis back would somehow do something. Like getting him back would give them a convenient arrow right to the door they needed to go through to get everyone back.   
Shuri may have taught Steve optimism, but every lesson he’d ever learned was always lost on him.   
The one he'd always come running back to; even if he was a brainless Hydra assassin.   
Bucky- oh god, he still couldn’t bear to say his name- was Steve’s endgame. There was no way of Steve changing it.   
Even though this was no fantasy novel or fan fiction, he and Steve had always been destined to be something more.   
And then Thanos had stepped in and ripped fate apart.   
It didn’t matter anymore, really.   
Steve believed he was going insane. Hearing voices, talking to them, what else could it be?   
“You should stop worrying.” Steve froze.   
Sh*t.   
The voice again.   
“What?” Steve called out.   
This voice was new. It wasn’t Peter again, no, this voice sounded older and deeper. Southern, if Steve dare say it.   
“Who the h*ll is this?” The voice said. Steve sighed.   
“My name is Steve.” He explained.   
He was going crazy.   
“I can’t see you, not like the others.” The voice sounded worried. Steve was intrigued at the word ‘others’. Could… could Peter and the new voice be in the same place?   
“Others?” Steve asked.  
“Yeah, the others. I can see them, but not you.” The voice sounded puzzled. “What was your name again?” The voice asked.   
“Steve. Steve Rogers.” Steve answered. The voice laughed a little.   
“That sounds familiar.” It said. “Anyways, I’m Peter Quill, but you can call me Starlord.” Steve snorted.   
Star Lord? What a stupid name.   
And it was odd, not only was he having a conversation with both voices, but both were named Peter.   
What crack was he on?   
“Steve? You still there?” Peter asked. Steve cleared his throat.   
“Yeah.” He mumbled. Peter sighed.   
“Man, I still can’t see you. That’s so weird. None of the others are like that.”   
There he was again, with the others.   
“Who are the others?” Steve asked. Peter hummed a second before answering.   
“Well there’s the other Peter-” oh, great, so now Steve’s mind was making up conversations with two Peters that knew each other. “...there’s Drax and Mantis, there’s the magician, and then there’s that Sam Wilson guy, never quite liked him.”   
Steve froze.   
Sam.   
Sam.   
Sam Wilson.   
“Mr. Rogers?” Steve heard the younger Peter Parker’s voice ask.   
Steve’s heart beat so loud he wondered if Peter could hear it.   
Sam.   
Sam.   
The voice could see-- talk, even, to Sam.   
Sam was alive.   
“You know, I was thinking about your name, and I was thinking it sounded familiar.” Young Peter’s voice quipped. Steve took in a shaky breath.   
“Y-yeah? What about it?” He asked, his throat dry.   
“Well, isn’t Steve Rogers the name of Captain America?” Young Peter asked.   
Steve steadied himself for giving the answer.   
Sam was alive.   
What if-- what if….   
Focus.   
Steve needed to focus on the kid.   
“Yeah, it is.” Steve answered Young Peter. Young Peter paused.   
“Mr. Rogers, are you Captain America?” Young Peter asked after the silence. Steve heard Old Peter comment something or rather about knowing the name was familiar.   
“Yeah.” Steve finally said, his throat dry. Steve heard Young Peter gasp.   
“You dropped a plane on me!” Young Peter said. Steve rolled his eyes.   
Sam. Was. Alive.   
“Hey kid, Peter,” Steve said. Young Peter quieted fast.   
“Yeah, Mr. Captain America?” He asked.   
“Where’s Sam? Sam Wilson?” Steve asked.   
Peter was silent.   
“Peter?” Steve called out. There was no response.   
“Steve?” A voice asked. Steve banged his head against a wall.   
He was so done with this A Christmas Carol bullsh*t.   
“No.” Steve finally said, completely and utterly in awe of his newfound insanity. He closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall.   
“On your left,” the voice said. Steve opened his eyes and looked to his left.   
It was Sam’s voice.   
“Hey Sam, I think I’m going crazy.” Steve said. He heard Sam’s voice laugh, the way it had so long ago. What seemed like a lifetime of innocence ago.   
“So did I, you know.” Sam’s voice said. “When I first lost Riley, my whole world went crashing down with him.” Steve smiled weakly.   
“What did you do?” He asked. Sam was quiet before he responded.   
“I’m not going to tell you,” Sam laughed a little.   
“I think I’m going insane, Sam.” Steve whispered quietly. What was wrong with him?   
“You’re not, Steve.” Sam’s voice was calm, as always, like he’d trained it to be.   
“How do you know?” Steve asked. He heard Sam give a little laugh before going quiet again.   
Somewhere in his mind, Steve could sense that Sam, or the manifestation of his presence, was gone.   
Steve pulled his knees close to his chest and sighed, taking in the silence.  
“Steve?” He heard a voice say.   
Not again.   
Steve was silent, waiting for the voice to say something else.  
“Steve, we need you in the lab.” It was Shuri. Getting up, Steve dusted himself off and opened the door.   
Shuri was leaning against the wall opposite his door, an iced coffee from Starbucks in hand. Her hair was not dressed in its usual twin buns (a style that Shuri claimed was not at all stolen from one of her heroes, Princess Leia, whomever that was.), but down and messy like she hadn’t slept. She looked tired and yet excited at the same time.   
“Where did you…?” Steve began to ask, regarding the coffee that one would’ve had to travel outside the country to obtain, but Shuri began to walk to her lab at a fast paced speed.   
“There’s no time for that, Rogers.” She sipped her coffee before speaking. “We’ve gotten another wave of visitors that have somehow gotten through the barrier.” She explained.   
“Who?” Steve asked. Shuri shrugged.   
“Thor knows them.” She stopped at the door to her lab and turned to Steve.   
“Oh and there’s one other thing,” She stopped.   
“What?” Steve asked. Shuri smiled a little, like a child learning about a new toy.   
“Vision is awake.” She said after a moment. Steve nodded as Shuri opened the door to her lab.   
Thor stood nearest to the door, speaking with a woman dressed in grey-blue armor. The woman looked upset, as if she were grieving. Thor appeared to be trying to comfort her while grieving himself.  
Of course, that’s what they were all doing nowadays.  
Tony and the others, however were surrounding the awakened Vision. Shuri led Steve to them as they spoke.  
Vision was different than Steve remembered him. Well, one, without the giant yellow infinity stone in his forehead. But there was something else to him. His face was softer, he wasn’t all metal anymore. He seemed almost more human in his metal shelling.   
“Vision,” Steve said as he approached. Vision looked at him, confused. He seemed to mull something over in his mind before looking back to Steve.   
Suddenly, a horrible ringing began in Steve’s ears. It was loud, screaming and it hurt.   
Steve covered his ears and leaned down, his body going into defensive mode.   
“Steve?” He heard Shuri’s voice through the ringing.  
“What’s wrong?” She continued.   
So they couldn’t hear the ringing, interesting.   
“Steve?” Tony asked, looking genuinely concerned. Steve looked up so see Vision had gotten up. He felt a cold, metal hand on his shoulder.   
And for a second, he thought it was Bucky.   
“You hear them, don’t you?” Vision asked, calm. The ringing quieted as Steve slowly nodded and gulped, his throat dry.  
“Yeah,” He mumbled, his voice weak. “I do.”   
“What?” Shuri asked. Everyone else nodded in agreement.   
“Steve, who do you hear?” Natasha asked gently.   
Steve looked at her, his eyes wide.   
“He hears their voices,” Vision answered for him.   
“Whose!” Natasha asked, seemingly impatient now.   
“Everyone that’s died,” Steve explained after a moment. “Sam, a boy named Peter, a guy named Peter, others….”   
“Peter?” Tony peeled up from his bowl of cereal and smiled expectantly. “Was his name Peter Parker, by chance?” Tony asked. Steve nodded.   
“Yeah, it was- is.” He corrected himself, seeing as they appeared to be not dead.   
“Steve, why didn’t you tell us this?” Natasha asked.   
“He had good reason not to,” Vision reasoned. “What would you have done with this information without me yet?” He asked.   
“The man— Android, has a point.” Tony quipped. “So what do we do now?” He asked. Thor frowned.   
“The soul stone theory; could he be hearing them through the stone?”’ Nebula asked, emerging from a corner. Steve looked at her oddly.   
“How would I…?” He asked. Nebula shrugged.   
“Better question, was the other Peter you heard named Quill?” Steve turned to see the Raccoon standing near the door. Steve nodded.   
“Yeah. Sound familiar?.” He asked. The Raccoon smirked.   
“You know the mystery disappearance of Peter Quill?” The raccoon asked. Steve shook his head.   
“No.” He answered. The raccoon shook his head and laughed a little to himself.  
“Anyways,” Nebula interjected. “It’s possible you could be speaking to them using a telepathic link,” Tony looked up at her quickly.   
“A telepathic link?” He asked. Nebula nodded.   
“Do you know anyone who would be able to create such a thing?” She asked Tony. Steve looked to Vision, who nodded.   
“We do,” he answered. Nebula’s mechanical eyes glittered as she looked to him.   
“Who?” She asked, her voice echoing in the silence.   
“Her name is Wanda,” Steve answered. “She was tested on by Hydra with the Mind Stone,” he explained. Nebula didn’t question who or what Hydra was, but she frowned a bit at the mention of the Mind Stone.   
“Is she dead?” Nebula asked. Steve nodded slowly, watching Vision silently sigh. “That’s… that’s impossible.” Nebula whispered to herself. Tony watched her as he took another bite of cereal.   
“Do you think she could be sending a telepathic message from the Soul World?” The woman in armor asked from behind the heroes. Steve turned and watched her as she brushed her cocoa hair behind her ear.   
“That would mean that we believe in this ‘Soul Stone’ theory,” Tony answered, using air quotes.   
“What about the Quantam Realm?” Piped up a voice Steve had yet to hear. He looked over as Scott Lang, the Ant Man, walked into the room. Trailing behind him, clutching his arm, was a little girl.   
“Is this… an agent of some sort?” Tony asked. Scott looked up at him.   
“We haven’t been properly introduced, Mr. Stark,” Scott said, a cool tone to his voice. “I’m Scott Lang, we met in Berlin.” He held out his hand. Tony looked at it, but didn’t shake it.   
“Lang, aren’t you that Ant guy?” Tony instead asked. Scott nodded. “Where were you when we were fighting Thanos?” Tony asked, obliviously Frustrated, taking a bite of his cereal.  
“Under house arrest, no thanks to you.” Scott answered bitterly. Tony shifted and put his head in his hands.   
“Who’s the girl?” Tony asked, his voice muffled.  
“This is Cassie, my daughter,” Scott looked down at Cassie, who’s eyes were wide as she looked at her Heroes, the Avengers. “I’m her only family left thank to you,” Scott glared at Tony as he spoke. Tony’s eyes were soft, a silent I’m sorry.   
“What did you say about a Quantam Realm?” Shuri asked. Scott turned away from glaring at Tony to face Shuri.   
“It’s a dimension, of sorts.” He began. “When you get really small, like, really small, you can enter it.” Shuri nodded.   
“And what about it?” She asked.  
“Well, there’s something about it… I’m not sure what, Hope would know, but it might be something that we could use to fight this Thanos dude.” Scott explained. Shuri nodded and bit her lip like she did when she was thinking. She turned back to her work, drowning herself in ideas.   
“So our theory about the soul stone,” Thor spoke through the silence. “Is there a way we could use Wanda and Steven’s link to get everyone out of the Soul World?” He asked. Nebula frowned.   
“Possibly,” She sighed as well as her metal body could. “But there would be… complications.” She continued. Steve seized up.   
“Complications?” He asked, terrified of the word. Nebula modded slowly.  
“I imangine… one would need the soul stone to do so.” She said softly. Tony threw his head back and laughed. His laugh wasn’t happy, it was utterly hopeless.   
“We’re screwed!” He exclaimed. “We’re utterly screwed!” He laughed that hopeless laugh again, the lines on his face creasing with regret.   
Everyone was silent, the daunting task of fighting Thanos again looming over their heads.   
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and a booming noise that echoed through the lab. Everyone jumped into a fighting stance as they looked around each other, perplexed.  
“What was that?” Shuri asked. Her question went unanswered, the question itself having no answer.   
There was another flash of light. A figure emerged from it and walked forwards.   
“What are you?” Tony asked, getting up from the table he sat at. The figure looked up as light began to illuminate its features. It was a woman, and she wore a red and blue suit, fixed with an eight point star. Her heart was short and blonde, and here eyes were a deep hazel brown.   
“Hi,” she said, sighing a little.   
“Who are you?” Tony asked again. The figure looked at him, her head cocked to the side slightly.   
“My name,” she paused, as if making a silent decision in her mind. She seemed to make up her mind as she opened her mouth to speak again.   
“I’m Captain Marvel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a wild ride. 
> 
> Captain Marvel!! Fun! Yeah, she’s not in the Character list! Why? Well, my plan all along was to include her, but it’s a surprise. (also, there might be other surprise characters along the way). 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! I had a lot of fun writing it (who knew putting characters through tragic events could be so fun? i know where the marvel writers are coming from now.) 
> 
> Like I said, I’ll hope to be posting chapter eight tomorrow or thorsday. 
> 
> Also, thank you for all of your lovely kudos and comments, you guys always brighten my day and you make me smile all the time. And than you to those who have subscribed to this fic! I don’t give y’all attention much (sorry) but I really do appreciate you guys too! 
> 
> Until next time, all my love
> 
> <3


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Answers are given, new questions are asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Once again your girl is four days late in posting this chapter. 
> 
> Yeah, sorry about that. (Will I ever stop apologizing? I’m like Tom Hiddleston sometimes.) 
> 
> The thing is, this chapter was a very tentative one when it came to planning it out. There were many different directions I could’ve gone with it, and it almost ended up being very different. This chapter was actually rewritten about five or six times! Just goes to show how bad I am at planning. 
> 
> I think I’ve gotten the chapter to be pretty good, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Answers will be given, but new questions are being asked... are you ready?! (God, I sound so excited. Irl guys I’m just really tired.) 
> 
> But anyways, I’m hoping to get chapter nine up asapa (as fast as procrastination allows). I hope youre all having an amazing summer, and are too dreading the looming school year ahead. 
> 
> That’s all for now. 
> 
> See you at the end; you’re in for a wild ride.

“I’m Captain Marvel.” The figure said, her eyes glittering with possibility. Steve frowned. 

“Captain  _ who? _ ” He exclaimed, utterly confused. Captain Marvel, whoever she was, shook her head and laughed a little. 

“Alright, how about Carol Danvers, if you’re so bothered by having another Captain, Steven Grant Rogers.” Carol Danvers, the new name, said. Steve looked confused. 

“How do you know who I am?” He asked. Carol shrugged complacently, like she’d gone through this situation before. 

“I know who all of you are.” She smiled and pointed to each of them in turn, saying their names. Natasha halted at her when the woman called her by her true name, Natalia, (a name the spy had dropped the second she’d escaped the Red Room). Tony stepped towards her suspiciously. 

“I feel like I know you,” he muttered. Carol smiled brightly, like the way a kindergarten teacher might with students. 

“Don’t worry, it’l all make sense soon enough.” She turned on her heels and walked to Shuri, who watched her suspiciously. “I really am terribly sorry about your brother.” She paused, watching Shuri frown. “But you’re really not that worried, are you?” Shuri nodded slowly as Carol leaned in for a hug, a sign of peace of sorts. Steve watched the Dora Milaji at the door step to attention. Shuri simply waved at them to stand down as she accepted the hug. Carol whispered something none of them could hear into Shuri’s ear. The teenage queen simply nodded and smiled. 

“Of course,” she whispered. 

“Of course  _ what _ ?” Tony asked. Shuri shrugged nonchalantly, but her face his something dark under it. She was afraid of something. 

It wasn’t Danvers, in fact she relaxed when the woman arrived. It was something she could sense, like a bloodhound on the hunt. 

But instead of blood she smelled, it was danger.

“The Captain here has a solution for us,” she explained. Steve shook his head a little at the use of the word ‘captain’. Shuri has obviously used it to make fun of him, but he couldn’t help but smile a little at her ability of humor when everything went wrong. 

Nebula frowned at the words ‘solution’. 

“And what is that?” She asked. Carol smiled and reached into her pocket. 

Vision lurched forwards suddenly and exclaimed from the corner when Carol did this. It was almost from surprise, but also like when someone pokes you in the side and you jump a little. 

Except it seemed that on Vis’s case, it was all over him. In the blink of an eye, Tony was at his side and Natasha had her gun pulled on Danvers. Clint had his bow pulled, Thor held up his axe, and Steve stood to full hight (of course, he was unarmed). 

“ _ What did you do _ ?” Natasha growled. Carol smiled reassuringly.

“A  _ solution.”  _ She whispered.

Out of her pocket came a bright orange stone. It radiates with power, glowing with possibilities. Steve shivered when he saw the stone. He could almost recognize it, and in the corner of his mind he felt as if he could recongnize what had had to happen for it to be there. 

It felt like death. 

“The Soul Stone—“ Nebula gasped, but was cut off as the room began to glow a scarlet tint. 

“You see, there was a bit of a paradox when Thanos snapped,” Carol explained. She held the stone up higher, and the room glowed red. 

“A paradox?” Tony asked, intrigued. Carol nodded before continuing.

“You see, Ms. Maximoff’s powers come from the Mind Stone. And one stone cannot destroy another,” she paused. 

“Do you mean…?” Steve started. Carol smiled a little. 

“I mean that Wanda Maximoff is very much dead.” Carol deapanned. Steven frowned. 

“ _ What?”  _ Natasha asked. Carol looked at her as the room began to turn a scarlet hue, the edges of the room almost vibrating with a power. 

“However,” Carol paused. “The Scarlet Witch is  _ very much alive _ .” 

 

***

 

The void between worlds was very, very dark. Not that hopeless darkness, I’ve seen enough of that, but the dark where you feel as if you’ll never see light again. Where you’re never really sure of the difference of being awake or somewhere very far away. 

It was in that kind of darkness where I realized what it truly meant to be alone. It was strange, just seeming floating in the endless darkness, not fully aware of my body, but fully aware of the immense pain it was going through. It was as if my mind was separate from my physical form. 

It wasn’t long before I came to the conclusion that I must be dead. It wasn’t exactly a shock, but I could remember enough to know that I couldn’t remember how I’d died. Some part of me remembered pain. Not physical pain, by emotional. Like losing a loved one. It made me happy to think that I’d been loved at some point. 

I looked around. There was nothing but darkness, of course. A part of me wondered if this was hell. 

Wouldn’t there be someone, or at least some _ thing _ else there though? 

‘Hello?’ I called out. There was no response, as I expected. 

So I was dead, and I was alone. And I couldn’t remember a thing. 

And it was very, very dark. 

And then, of course, there was something. 

Voices. 

Some of them sounded afraid. Some of them sounded confused, lost, angry even. Some of them screamed, some were terrified. 

It was millions at once, all yelling into the void of nothingness. 

I was still alone, somehow. And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t. That there was someone else here with me, someone I’d loved, that was together in the empty darkness.

And then suddenly, I wasn’t. 

Suddenly, there was light again, and I felt as if I could see everything. 

There were people I recognized in the back of my mind.

And suddenly, I remembered it all. 

Thanos. 

The snap. 

The dust. 

The pain. 

My name. 

I was Wanda Maximoff. Scarlet Witch. Orphan, tested on by Hydra and gained powers through the Mind Stone. My twin brother was dead. The man I was engaged to was dead as well. 

Funny how things seem to come together like that, isn’t it. 

And there were people. People that had died. But they were  _ alive.  _ They were okay, they were… alive. 

I was alive. 

As I looked around, there was a man I recognized. He saw me and ran over.

‘You’re here too?’ He asked. I nodded slowly. 

‘I guess.’ I answered. I shivered as his metal arm touched my shoulder gently, meant to be comforting. 

‘How long have you been here?’ I asked. He looked confused. 

‘Just now- just as long as you,’ he answered. I frowned. 

‘No, I’ve been here longer,’ I corrected. He shook his head. 

‘Last I saw, you were still…’ he took in a shaky breath. ‘Still alive.’ I nodded sadly and squeezed his hand. He smiled and sighed sadly, knowing that his other half he’d left behind would be worried sick about him. 

I turned away from him and looked around as others began to appear. 

‘Wanda?’ The man asked, confused. I looked at him, his blue eyes dark and sad. 

‘Don’t worry, James.’ I whispered, smiling a little at him. He knit his eyebrows at my use of his real name. 

People we knew started appearing, like Sam and T’Challa. There were others, too, like the talking tree that could only say three words, the Flash Gordon wannabe and the bug girl.

And then, there was me. 

She emerged out of the darkness with tears running down her face, muttering something to herself. She saw James first, and then her eyes wandered to… me. 

‘What the hell?’ I asked. James looked from her to me, like her was watching a tennis match. 

‘You’re… me.’ The other me said. 

‘Way to point out the oblivious.’ Sam muttered. The bearded man, who I’d assumed was Doctor Stephen Strange, stepped forward. 

‘This… makes incredible sense.’ He whispered, looking between the two me’s. 

‘What?’ I asked, confused. He turned to me, (the me me, not the other one), and nodded a little to himself. 

‘Your powers come from the Mind Stone.’ He explained. He looked to the other me. ‘An Infinity Stone cannot destroy another Infinity Stone.’ He paused and looked back to me. ‘So when you died, quote on quote, you were split into two halves. One,’ he turned to the other me. ‘Is Wanda Maximoff.’ He smiled at her a little and she frowned. He turned back to me again. ‘And the other is the Scarlet Witch.’ I shook my head. 

‘That’s insane.’ I laughed a little. ‘You’re saying that… we’re two different people?’ I asked. Strange nodded. 

‘You are the part of her that is essentially a part of the Mind Stone.’ He explained. ‘And She is the human in you.’ The other me, Wanda, I guessed, frowned. 

‘So she’s… me, but I’m not her?’ She asked. Strange nodded again. 

‘However, essentially you are both the same consciousness. That is why you are  _ both  _ dead.’ He ended dramatically. I bit my lip. 

‘So what do we do with this information?’ I asked. Stephen looked at me and tensed.

‘There’s a possibility…’ he trailed off. 

‘A possibility of what?’ The Wanda me asked. Stephen looked from her back to me. 

‘There’s a possibility that Scarlet Witch would be able to use certain powers of the other stones.’ He explained. James put his hand on my shoulder protectively. 

‘How?’ He asked. I sighed. 

‘It’s possible she could use a telepathic link from her Mind Stone powers to connect with the other world. She could maybe use the Time Stone to visualize all that’s been happening, and the Reality Stone to help everyone know how to get us back.’ Strange explained. He knitted his thick eyebrows and looked at me. 

This was good, right? We could  _ do _ something. 

‘How do I do that?’ I asked. Strange looked at me dead in the eye, his voice steely and serious. 

‘You’d need a strong connection between two people, one in this world and one on our earth.’ He paused and looked around. ‘And then you’d need to link them to each other the way you would get inside someone’s head. They would then be able to transmit other people’s voices to each other, but not their own.’ I sighed. Of course, there were those complications.

‘What kind of connection?’ Sam asked. 

‘A strong, emotional one.’ Strange answered. I looked to James and then looked back Strange. 

James and Steve, they had that sort of connection. Hell, they were married. 

‘I think I know someone.’ I said. Strange looked at me questioningly. 

‘Who?’ He asked. I looked to James, who looked back at me. Silently, he understood what I was asking him to do.

‘Me.’ James croaked. Strange nodded and looked at me.

‘Now, you have to set up the connection, and connect him and the other half. Once you’ve done that, we’ll be able to send you to the other world.’ He explained. I swallowed hard and nodded, turning to James. He smiled reassuringly. 

‘I won’t be able to talk to him, right?’ He asked. I nodded, apologizing. He shook his head and smiled a little. ‘I’ll be alright.’ He said. 

‘I have to-‘ I awkwardly put my hands on his forehead (a feat considering that he was almost a foot and a half taller than me, the super soldier.). He smiled and me once more and whispered something to himself before nodding that it was okay. 

I allowed myself to enter his mind like I’d done plenty of times before. But this time, I searched for a link to someone else. To Steve, to his other half. It wasn’t long before I found it and connected them. 

Blinking, I exited the realm and found myself back with Strange and the other me. James was sitting down, asleep. 

‘So now what?’ I asked. 

‘Now, you can use the link to travel to the other world.’ Strange answered. I nodded and took in a breath. 

‘And then what?’ I asked. Strange shrugged. 

‘I would imagine you’ll have to observe. You’ll see everything that the other half does.’ He explained. I frowned. 

‘How does that help us help them get us back?’ I bit my lip again, thinking. 

‘I imagine you’ll need the presence of another Infinity Stone to do that.’ Strange answered. 

‘How would I do that?’ I asked. The other me took my hand reassuringly. 

‘Don’t worry,’ she said, a slight and cliche twinkle in her eyes. ‘I have a feeling that won’t be hard.’ I nodded, suspicious anyway of how she would know it. 

‘Are you ready to go?’ Strange asked. ‘Time is of the essence.’ He muttered. I nodded slowly. 

‘Yeah.’ 

I let out a yell as there was an immense pain in the back of my head. My vision blurred, and everything was dark. 

When I saw again, I was on my knees in a different place. This place was one I recognized. 

There were people I recognized, too. There was Natasha, head hung defeatedly. Bruce, clambering out of the Hulkbuster suit. Rhodey, walking out of a dense forest into a clearing and shaking his head. Thor standing with his head hung low, axe fallen to the ground. And there was Steve, shaken and heartbroken, looking into the distance. 

‘ _ Oh god. _ ’ He muttered to himself. 

I walked up to him. 

‘Don’t worry,’ I started to say, but I could tell he couldn’t hear me. It was like I wasn’t there to him. At least our plan was somewhat working. I was here, I could see them.

‘5.3 million reported dead this morning.’ I heard a voice say. I looked around, but there was no one there. 

‘What?!’ I asked, confused. 

‘Président français mort,’ another voice echoed. That was French, right? Did it mean… the president of France was dead? 

So… this must’ve been news headlines. 

Yeah. 

Okay, wow. This is new. 

I heard a lot more, some of them shocking. 

The Sokovia accords called off? That was unexpected. 

‘Where are the Avengers? The world needs to know.’ I heard. 

Oh. My mind slowly dropped as the reality of everything set in, my curios mood fading into a dark one.

If only they knew. 

If only they knew that most of the avengers were dead or missing. If only they knew that we had no hope of getting anyone back. 

That we, they, had no idea how to get them back. 

The scenery slowly changed around me, showing me scene after scene of the broken avengers. I wished more than anything that I could do something, that I could help them. 

But there still wasn’t another Infinity Stone. That’s what I was waiting for, and there was nothing. 

And so I watched them, not able to do anything to show them that we were  _ alive.  _

And it was heartbreaking, watching them. It was awful. 

I know I’d offered to do this, but I didn’t know it would be like this. A part of me wondered if James could see this, too, if he felt like this. 

Just  _ standing there _ , with nothing to do but observe them. Watching Shuri silently break down in her lab in the dead of night. Watching Tony come back and train to be fast enough now. 

I saw them all.

And I wanted nothing more than to be able to  _ do something.  _

Until that first night, watching Steve in his room as the rain pounded outside. 

He heard something, he’d heard through the connection. He’d  _ spoken!  _ It was working! 

This gave me hope as I continued to observe everyone’s efforts. They were rebuilding, they were coming back. They were broken, yes, but a broken thing isn’t useless. 

Suddenly, I thought of the two missing Avengers and Strange. Strange had said I’d be able to use the powers of the Time Stone. 

The Avengers needed their comrades, even if some were retired. 

They needed Clint. 

Traveling through time wasn’t unlike traveling through someone’s mind. I simply focused on where I needed to go and I was taken there. 

The happy little farmhouse the Barton’s owner greeted me when I got there. It looked peaceful, and the calm before the storm. 

I must’ve been there to greet the storm, because Clint Barton had been deaf all his life, and he still heard his wife screaming when their children turned to ashes in front of her. And I heard her, too. And then she turned to ashes in front of him. I watched him sink to his knees and sob over the ashes. I reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, knowing that it wouldn’t work. 

But when I touched him, it did. Clint jumped a little, and looked up. 

So… he could  _ feel  _ me? I wondered, was it because he’d had such a fatherly connection with me? Because he’d been my mentor of sorts? 

Could James’ and Steve’s connection have anything to do with this? 

I watched him get up and go into a room, pulling back a book on a shelf to reveal a hidden vault. He pulled out a bow. 

So he was coming out of retirement, returning to the Avengers. That’s what I’d came for. But they were in Wakanda, right? He’d need a plane to get there. 

Would it be possible for me to…? 

There was a Quinjet prototype in a garage near his farmhouse. Would I be able to control it to get to Wakanda? 

It was worth a shot in my mind. 

Silently, I willed the plane to the farmhouse, and was greeted by the familiar sounds of its whirring engine turbines. 

Soon, he was nearing the Wakandan border, the magic of the Time Stone once again. 

It worked, I guess. 

By there was the problem of the barrier. Could I open it? Was it possible? 

As I watched Clint get closer, I bit my lip and tried it. Willing a hole in the border wasn't easy, not with Shuri’s tech. But honestly at this point, screw easy. I had stuff to do. I had a mission. 

‘What the hell—‘ I heard Clint exclaim and the plane spiraled out of control. I’d gotten him through the barrier, but lost control of the plane. 

‘Hold on!’ I exclaimed, knowing he couldn’t hear me. But he looked over his shoulder, in my direction. Almost like he’d heard me. 

‘Can you…?’ I asked, intrigued, but he didn’t seem to notice this time. I was soon reminded that the plane was spinning out of control when Clint jumped out of said plane. I stood for a moment, still shocked that he had heard me for a moment. 

I willed myself out of the plane, phasing to different scenery as I had done hundreds of times before.

Shuri was interrogating Clint about something, probably how he got through the barrier. I smiled a little as Shuri relaxed and Natasha embraced her old friend. Steve looked troubled, which I took oddly as a good sign. That meant he’d been hearing voices, that the plan was working. 

But the Avengers still needed someone. I could feel her, and Scott too. I thought of using the Time Stone again, and soon I was there. 

They were standing in the middle of a street in LA, a crowd of mideval looking people standing behind them. A little girl clutched Scott’s hand like he was the last thing on Earth. 

‘Where do we go from here?’ The woman asked. The man shrugged. I bit my lip, knowing I had to get them to Wakanda. 

There was one trick I could use, but one I hadn’t since my Hydra days. I could pt the idea of going to Wakanda into his head, and he’d probably follow it. 

I didn’t like taking advantage of one’s mind like that, though. Not anymore. 

The woman looked at me and turned her head to the side, confused. She opened her mouth slightly, her eyes widening. She smiled and little and turned back to the man. 

‘Where are the other Avengers? We need to find them.’ She said. The Ant Man nodded. 

‘Wakanda,’ I Said, hoping it would entire his mind, get him to suggest it. I didn’t like doing it, but I had to. 

Scott swallowed. 

‘Wakanda, I think,’ he said. The woman smiled and nodded, turning. 

‘Let’s get going,’ she said, and the child and the man followed her.

I smiled and watched them travel to Wakanda, and stand with the rest of Avengers in Shuri’s lab. 

I watched Steve walk in with Shuri herself, Steve looking disheveled and disturbed. I could feel that he’d just heard voices through the connection. 

Vision looked at Steve. 

‘You hear them, don’t you?’ He asked. I froze. 

What? 

Vision knew. 

Could he sense the connection? 

‘Yeah.’ Steve answered. I gulped. 

Was this going according to plan? 

I panicked as the Avengers discussed their theory about the Soul stone, as Scott made a dramatic entrance and as Steve was pestered with questions. 

And then, the lights flashed. I snapped back to attention as Vision yelled out in pain. 

I watched as a woman appeared, and I began to feel more pain in the back of my head, like when I’d arrived here. She spoke a bit, and I heard her speak about the two me’s. 

How did she know? 

And then, she pulled out the Soul Stone. 

The pain behind my head tripled and the room began to glow red. I blinked and it seemed like I was in the room myself, not just watching. 

I began to scream as the pain became unbearable, trying to break free of the connection. 

“Oh my god!” I heard. I looked up to see Vision at my side. He looked at me and smiled. 

“Welcome back.” He whispered. 

He could see me. 

They all could. 

The woman walked up to me and smiled as well. 

”Sorry about the pain,” she started. “But you’re both together now, both halves.” I nodded, understanding what she meant. 

I was back. Alive. And whole, the Maximoff back. 

“Where did she come from?” Tony asked. 

“The Soul World.” I answered. Tony nodded slowly. 

“Were you alone?” He asked. I smiled and shook my head. 

“No.” I said. Steve looked at me hopefully. 

“So they really are alive?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” I said, my voice breaking.  “And they’re coming home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was... a lot. 
> 
> Can you see why I had to rewrite this five times? Yeah. There was very almost a lot more time travel and a lot more confusion. (Plus, there was almost a whole lot More words. This alone almost broke 4000, while the original would’ve gotten to about 6000 words.) 
> 
> But our girl Scarlet Witch has been telling the story! Crazy, right? I’m honestly surprised at myself for coming up with that. And our beautiful Steven grant Rogers isn’t insane, how lovely. Even better, Wanda’s back and about to kick some serious soul saving! 
> 
> Ahh, don’t you love a happy almost ending. (and for avid readers you’ll notice how much I’ve used the term ‘calm before the storm’ in the fic so far. it most definitely means something, don’t worry.) 
> 
> As always, I love you guys with all my heart, and seeing your lovely comments and everything else warms my heart. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but the day after I posted the first three chapters, I checked on the site to see if anyone had found it. I wasn’t expecting much, due to my unsuccessfulness at another website we shall not name. But when I saw that people had actually *liked* my story, there were some real happy tears in this girl’s eyes. 
> 
> Anyway, the purpose of that story was to show that I really really really cannot express the joy you all have brought me. I might not exactly be consistent with updates or information, but I’m doing this for you guys. Thank you for supporting me and being there for me, especially those who stuck with me through that almost two month hiatus. You make me smile every morning and make writing not only fun, but worth it! 
> 
> So from the bottom of my heart, thanks. 
> 
> See you in chapter nine! 
> 
> All my love


	9. Chapter Nine

“How exactly do you plan to get them home?” 

That, of course, was the question. There was really no plan after returning to Earth. It was one of those situations where doing something seemed so improbable you didn’t know what you’d do once you actually did it. 

“Strange told you _ nothing?”  _ Tony asked me. I shook my head. 

“Only how to get here.” I explained. Tony sighed in frustration before eating a spoonful of cereal. 

“ _ Prick _ .” He muttered under his breath. I rolled my eyes and turned to Captain Marvel, who I’d been instructed to call Carol. 

“Do you know anything?” I asked. She paused for a moment before answering. 

“No.” She said softly. She looked at me, her eyes wide. She seemed saddened by something, a burden placed upon her. 

“Why don’t we just smash it?” Steve said from the back of the room. I turned around so fast I might’ve gotten whiplash. 

“ _ What?!”  _ I asked, horrified. Steve looked confused. 

“That would get them out, right?” He asked. I shook my head vehemently. 

“ _ No.”  _ I said. 

“That would kill them, Steven.” Carol deadpanned from behind me. I nodded in agreement and Steve looked down with a small “ _ oh.”  _

“Steve, you can’t just ‘ _ fondue _ ’ your way out of every problem,” Tony snarked. I bit down a laugh and Steve glared at Tony, equally confused and mortified.

“You’re telling the 100 year old virgin that,” Natasha teased. Steve glared at her before fighting back. 

“Actually, Nat, I’m not.” He said defiantly, then realizing his mistake and turning redder than a tomato. Shuri snorted loudly from her end of the lab. 

“Do any of your remember half the universe being dead?!” Nebula practically yelled from near the door. “You’re acting like a bunch of children.” She continued. Shuri stopped laughing and swallowed hard. I picked at my nail, a nervous tick of mine ever since Pietro's death. 

“Yeah.” I said softly. Tony went back to his cereal and everyone was silent for a while. 

It was daunting, all of this. The weight of not only the world, but the actual freaking universe on our shoulders. This was a whole new playing field, new threats, new people, new villians, a crap load of people to save. 

How could we do it?

If only Strange had been more of a help. He seemed to know what was going on in this awful debacle. 

If only there was some way I could talk to him…. 

Wait! 

The connection! It was two ways, so I could use Steve to talk to him. 

“I have an idea,” I said, my voice shaking a little with excitement. Tony looked at me. 

“What is it?” He asked with his mouth full of cereal. 

“The connection. I could use it to talk to Strange.” I explained. Steve looked concerned. 

“How?” He asked quietly. I smiled reassuringly. I could sense that he feared himself having the connection, as if something in it would rip him apart. 

I guess it serves me right for pushing it on him and not giving him any explanation, but what needed to happen happened. Without that connection… all of this ‘saving the universe’ stuff would be impossible. 

“I just need to connect to it, and then I can communicate between the worlds.” I explained. Steve nodded slowly. 

“How does the connection work, anyway?” Tony asked. 

“I’m using my powers from the Mind Stone to connect two powerfully connected souls from the different worlds.” I explained again. Tony nodded slowly. 

“Wanda?” Steve asked quietly. I nodded gently. 

“Yeah, Steve?” I answered.

“Who’s on the other side?” Steve whispered. I leaned in close to him so no one else could hear. 

“ _ He _ is, Steve.” I whispered back. I smiled at Steve, a silent ‘it’s okay, he’s alive, you’re alive, we’re okay’. Steve nodded and smiled a broken smile to himself. 

“Do it.” He instructed, giving me the okay to use the connection. I gently placed my fingers on his temples, closing my eyes and opening my mind to the connection. 

‘Strange?’ I asked. It took a moment to hear any response. ‘Stephen?’ I asked again. 

‘Wanda, is that you?’ I heard Strange ask. 

‘Yeah, yeah, it’s me.’ I answered. ‘I’m back, alive and wondering what to do next.’ 

‘How?’ Strange asked. I shrugged to myself. 

‘It’s… a long story.’ I explained. I heard Strange sigh deeply on the other end. 

‘So you have another Infinity Stone?’ Stephen asked. 

‘Yeah, The Soul Stone.’ I answered. 

‘How the hell did you get the Soul Stone?’ Stephen asked. 

‘This… lady named Captain Marvel showed up with it out of nowhere. None of us know where she comes from, but she seems to know all about us.’ I explained. ‘Plus, She seems to know what she’s doing with this whole Infinity Stone business.’ I could almost feel Strange frowning all the way from the Soul World. 

‘It’s possible you could use the combined power of the Soul Stone and your Mind Stone powers to remove us all from the Soul World using Mr. Barnes’ and Mr. Roger’s connection.’ Strange explained after a very long pause. I bit my lip. 

‘How?’ I asked. Strange paused again, and I could hear the figurative cogs of his brain ticking away to work out a solution to this problem. 

‘Is the Vision up and running again?’ He asked. I nodded, but soon remembered that Strange couldn’t see me. 

‘Yeah, he is.’ I answered. Strange gave out a little ‘hmm.’ 

‘I assume from what Sam has told me that this Shuri downloaded his consciousness before he died.’ Strange remarked. I frowned. 

‘What does that have to do with it?’ I asked. 

‘You two have a sort of connection, I presume.’ Strange said, treading lightly on his words. 

‘Yes, but what does that have to do with it?’ I asked again. 

‘It will make you stronger.’ Strange said delicately. 

‘Why do I need that?’ I asked, getting worried. Why did I need to be stronger? What for? Strange was quite for a moment, a moment I considered to be contemplation.  _ Hoped _ , more like.

‘Wanda…’ he started, his voice soft and careful. 

‘ _ What?’ _ I said, getting frustrated and honestly incredibly worried. 

‘You should be able to use a small amount of the powers from the Infinity Stones, stemming from your time here.’ Strange explained. I nodded to myself slowly. 

‘And do what with that?’ I asked. 

‘You’ll need to open the connection, open it to every being in the universe.’ Strange said slowly. I frowned. 

‘How?!’ I exclaimed, the task seeming dauntless and terrifying. 

‘You can use the powers of the other Infinity Stones to reverse what Thanos did.’ Strange explained, his voice soft and calming. It was like he could sense my fear from a world away. ‘You’ll know what to do.’ He said softly. 

‘Will I?’ I asked, my voice and hands shaking a bit. 

‘Trust me.’ Strange whispered. I smiled to myself. 

‘See you soon?’ I asked. 

‘If all goes according to plan.’ Strange answered. 

I blinked and I was back in Shuri’s lab. I took my hands off of Steve’s temples and turned to Captain Marvel. 

“It will work.” She said to me. 

“Could you…?” I asked, curious as to if they could hear me or not. I mean, obviously Carol would, but there was something about her that unnerved me enough to ask.

“We heard enough.” Natasha said. I nodded and gulped. 

“I still can’t believe his last name is actually Strange,” Tony muttered to himself. That made me smile a bit, the calm before the storm. 

And a storm indeed. 

“Let’s get to it.” Nebula said, coming towards me and touching my hand gently. Her blue metal hands were cool to the touch. I was surprised at how gentle she was, but I believe it was her knowing of how terrified I was. 

This? 

This was literally saving the universe. Not some fake comic book movie level stuff, actually saving quintillions of life forms  _ everywhere _ **.** In a universe that was constantly growing, constantly changing and one of millions more. 

Just your normal Sunday evening walk in the park. 

“Are you ready?” Carol asked gently. I nodded slowly and reached for the Soul Stone. 

“We’re here with you,” I heard Steve say behind me. 

My family was with me. My chosen family, those that were with me for some of the hardest times in my life. 

And the rest of them were missing. 

They’d get here a little late to the party, but screw late. 

This was my hero's’ journey. Everything i’d done  _ ever  _ lead to this moment. 

Time to save the universe, right? 

I closed my eyes and reached out my hands to the Soul Stone. I opened my mind and reached it for the Soul Stone as well. As I did in Sokovia, I strengthened and opened the connection as far as it needed to. Back then, it was just the city. 

Now, it was the universe. 

I felt Vision put a hand on my shoulder, and the burning seemed less. Strange had mention him strengthening me, and it seemed to work. Slowly, I sensed Captain Marvel joining hands with Vision, and others doing so with her. As one, we were strong enough. 

This team had split apart, yes, but something stronger than what they could create with a serum was still there. It was love, love for each other, love for the world and love for who they were. And it was more powerful than any stone the universe could throw at them. This task ahead of me was not mine alone, it was ours together. 

I let out a small cry of pain as I felt a burning in my mind and my hands. I opened my eyes to see green, red, purple and blue light stemming from each finger. Likely the result of the Infinity Stones, or their power inside of me. I looked around and saw that everyone had the small slivers of light stemming from their own hands as well. 

We were together, one. This burden was not mine alone, it was all of ours. 

I opened the connection, and let it spread. Slowly, I felt millions of minds inside my own, each now part of the connection that was spreading like wildfire. 

“I think it’s working,” I said, biting down on my lip because of the pain. I saw Captain Marvel nod, her blonde hair falling out of place. 

Now that the connection was set, I had to, well,  _ connect  _ it to the Soul Stone. I closed my eyes and imagined in my mind each of the Stones. 

There was Time, to turn back what Thanos had done. Power, to give me the strength to do this. Space, to reach every corner and crevice in the universe. Reality, to make it a reality. Soul, to reunite the souls of those lost with their own. 

And finally me, Mind, to complete the collection. Mind, to connect every mind and to bring back the souls. 

I could somehow feel each tendril of light reach towards the Stone and grab onto it in a sort of way.

I thought of my family with me, the family that strengthened me and loved me everything I’d done. They were with me, we were together and whole. And with that, I used every ounce of being in me to use the Stones. 

Time, Power, Space, Reality, Soul and Mind. 

Everything hurt, the burning sensation everywhere. My mind aflame, I thought of one thing.

Bring them back. 

Back.

Back.

_ Back. _

_ ~ _

A boom louder than anything I’d ever imagined sounded and we were thrown back.

There was a flash of light and I though for a moment i’d been blinded. 

I opened my eyes to see the Avengers on the ground, thrown back by the blast. 

I lifted my head and tried to stand, but my body screamed in protest. 

“Wanda,” Vision said. He cautiously helped me stand, every movement of mine awakening the burning. 

“Did it work?” Tony asked, rubbing his forehead. I looked down, worried. 

Did it? I didn’t know how long it would take for the souls to travel through my connection, or if it have even worked. 

“Can you tell?” Shuri asked. I shook my head. 

“All I can tell is that it hurt like hell.” I answered. 

Oh god, I hope it worked. If not- then what? 

“Could you use the connection to check?” Carol asked. I nodded.

“I can do that.” I nodded, my head aching. Steve, the gentleman, came to me and I put my hands on his temples. I tried to enter the connection, but nothing happened. I tried again, this time with more gusto. 

Nothing. 

“I can’t enter the connection!” I exclaimed. Steve stepped back. 

“Is that bad?” Natasha asked. 

“I honestly don’t know.” I explained. 

“What do we do now? Do we just wait?” Tony asked. I watched him sympathetically.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry.” I choked on my words a bit at the end, remembering the pained look on his face in remembering Peter. And if he wasn’t coming home…. what would I do? How would I explain to them that I didn’t know how to get their soulmates, their family, their  _ everything  _ back. How would they ever have hope again, how would they ever have anything again after that? 

What would  _ I  _ do? 

“ _ LOOK _ !” Screamed Shuri, as she pointed out the window. I jumped halfway out of my skin, jarred out of my thoughts. 

It was  _ them _ .

They were  _ back.  _

Fallen Wakandan soldiers reappearing on the fields, looked around dazed and confused. 

Shuri jumped up and down, pure excitement as she sprinted out of the lab. She screamed again moments later, and came running back in with her brother. 

T’Challa looked confused, the bear hug his sister had pulled him in draining his lungs of air. Shuri smiled at me, a silent thank you that I’d never be able to return. I weakly smiled back, drained of my energy. Shuri let go do her brother reluctantly.

“This is no place to die, brother?” Shuri asked suddenly, her voice harsh. T’Challa looked down sheepishly. 

“Admittedly, it was awkward timing to say the least.” He said formally. Shuri snorted and hugged him tightly again, like he’d disappear any second. 

“T’Challa!” Okoye’s voice sounded from above. She ran down the stairs and pulled T’Challa into a hug, any formalities forgotten and meaningless. 

“I’m sorry for that scare back there,” T’Challa said, a small smile on his face. Okoye hit him gently on the arm, a playful sign of friendliness. 

“As long as you never do it again,” She answered, a smile creeping onto her face. How could she not smile, after all? Her people, the universe was back. 

I smiled at Vision and squeezed his hand. He pulled me into a gentle hug, a mixture of emotions that we couldn’t say. 

“Holy shi-“ I heard, and pulled away from Vision. I turned to see the Flash Gordon Wannabe fall from the vaulted ceiling and land with a thump next to Tony. 

“Peter?” The Raccoon asked. Quill looked up and beamed. 

“Rocket!” He exclaimed, and leaped up, running to the raccoon. 

“You son of a-“ Rocket started, but Quill stopped him.

“I promise I’ll never call you trash panda again,” Quill whispered. The Raccoon smiled weakly. 

“Asshole.” He mumbled. Quill smiled. 

“Dickhead.” He answered. Suddenly, the tree appeared and wrapped its arms around Rocket. 

“I am Groot,” it whispered softly. Rocket turned with tears in his eyes.

“Groot?” He asked, embracing the tree gently. The tree sighed happily. 

“I am Groot,” it repeated. Tony frowned. 

“Is that… all it says?” He asked suspiciously. Thor turned to him and nodded.

“The Rabbit and Tree are very strange indeed.” He commented, his voice distant. I noticed, there was someone, for him, that wouldn’t be coming home. The same went for Quill, too. Their other half wasn’t dusted, they were victims of Thanos himself. I knew Thor missed Loki dearly, but what could be done? After all, I assume his body had been crushed in the Asgardian ship explosion. And Gamora, her body was rotting away on Vormir, lifeless at the bottom of a cliff. 

Awfully tragic, this whole ordeal was. You come to love someone dearly only to have them ripped mercilessly away from you with nothing you can do to stop it. 

“Rocket!” I heard someone yell, barring me out of my thoughts. I looked around to see the man covered in red, Drax, and Mantis reappearing.

“Drax.” Rocket said flatly, though one could tell he was hiding his emotions. Mantis rushed up to him and hugged him tightly. She suddenly pulled away and looked at him, a tear falling down her cheek.

“You are… happy?” She said, questioningly, confused. Rocket shook his head in a no, but what Mantis had said was true. 

“Wait, What?” Natasha asked. She reached over and gently touched Mantis’ hand in comfort. Mantis reeled back and looked at Natasha in shock. 

“I’m sorry,” Mantis whispered, embarrassed. “I can detect emotions, through touch.” She explained sheepishly. Tony looked at her, intrigued.

“That’s incredible,” he murmured. I rolled my eyes and watched as Thor spoke to Rocket and Groot. 

Just then, Strange burst through the doors of Shuri’s lab. 

“Wanda!” He shouted. I looked up, surprised. 

“Yeah?” I asked, confused. 

“It worked!” He shouted again, much too loud. I looked around and nodded.

“Yes it did.” I answered gently. Strange looked around and saw Tony. 

“Tony.” He said curtly. Tony smirked. 

“Stephen.” He answered. 

“So, is this the magician dude?” Rhodey asked. Tony nodded.

“The one and only,” He answered, spreading his arms in mock enthusiasm. Strange rolled his eyes. 

“How very kind of you, Stark.” He shot. Tony faked looking hurt. 

“Oh, so I’m Stark now?” Tony asked, his hand on his chest like. Stephen ignored him, rolling his eyes and turning away. 

“Wait, you’re a magician? Me too!” Scott said. Strange looked at him and furrowed his brows. 

“Really? I highly doubt that.” He said dryly, smirking. Scott shook his head and reached behind Strange’s ear, pulling out a bouquet of flowers. Strange looked at Scott in an undignified way. 

“See? Magician.” Scott said proudly. He then coughed out a single red queen card. Strange looked at Scott and then the floor, shaking his head. 

“Why am I still here?” He muttered. 

“What? Don’t tell me you’re already tired of us again?” Sam said from behind us all. Steve turned so fast I thought he’d get whiplash, minus the super soldier serum. 

“Sam!” He exclaimed. Sam nodded, walking to him.

“Don’t gets too excited, white boy.” He laughed. Steve looked Sam up and down and smiled, taking in the return of his best friend. Sam looked around and came to me. 

“Does Steve know about…?” He asked. I nodded. 

“How’s the other side?” I asked. Sam shook his head.

“He was still back there last I saw.” He explained. I pursued my lips. 

“Any idea how long he’ll be there?” I asked. Sam shook his head again. 

“Do any of us?” He whispered. I nodded and looked to Strange. 

“He might,” I motioned to Strange. Sam frowned. 

“That stuck up son of a gun?” He laughed a little. “You try staying a week with him.” I laughed and Sam went back to Steve. Vision leaned in to whisper something in my ear. I shivered a bit, his metal body cool to the touch. It had been forever since Ireland, but… I’d always have the memories. It had been hours since I’d returned, and hardly any of my attention had been to Vision. I could tell he understood, there were better things to dwell on. 

We’d always have those haunted shells of words spoken in the forest. 

“Tony,” Vision whispered to me. I nodded.

“Yeah?” I asked. Vision’s face seemed to crease with worry. 

“He’s missing someone.” Vision said. I watched Tony as he sat back cross legged on the table, empty bowl of cereal in his lap. He seemed saddened, like he was waiting for someone that would never come home. 

I remembered how heartbroken he’d been when I first saw him on Titan. Broken, not just because of being stabbed. 

“He’s waiting for someone.” I whispered to Vision. 

“Who?” He asked. I paused.

“The other half.” I finally said. Vision chuckled quietly. 

“You’re always so cryptic.” He muttered. I squeezed his hand and watched Sam and Steve talk, Cassie admire Brunnhilde's armor and the rest of the Avengers that had returned reunite. 

Tony sat alone still, occasionally commenting on this or that, trying to keep his spirits up. 

“Mr. Stark?” A voice suddenly asked. Tony stood from the table so fast it was a shock he didn’t break the bowl. He raced into the hallway, looking around. 

“Peter?” He asked. Everyone was silent, waiting for the voice to respond again. Tony ran back into Shuri’s lab and looked around desperately. “Peter?” He asked again, his voice breaking. A pair of arms clad in a metallic red wrapped around Tony in a hug. Tony broke away and turned to see Peter. 

“I’m right here, Mr. Stark.” Peter said, his arms open. Tony looked Peter up and down before hugging him, silently apologizing for everything. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered, his face a mixture of grief and relief. Peter shook his head. 

“Don’t be.” He answered. Tony broke away and smiled down at Peter.

“Do anything like that again and you’re grounded forever, you know that right?” Tony muttered. Peter nodded. 

“Of course,” He said quickly. Tony let go of Peter, who looked around at everyone in the room. 

“Guys, this is my so- this is Peter.” Tony said, catching himself on calling Peter his son. 

“Is that the spider kid?” Bruce asked Natasha. She nodded silently, her lip curling upward in a sort of smile. 

“What is it with this team and bugs?” Sam asked quietly from across the room. Steve heard him and laughed a little. 

“You’re Spider-Man?” Shuri asked Peter. Peter nodded and looked her up and down. 

“Yeah.” He answered. “Who’re you?” He asked. 

“I’m Shuri,” Shuri answered. “I saw you, on YouTube.” She commented. Peter looked down, embarrassed. 

“Wow, okay.” He laughed a little to shake away the awkwardness. 

“Let me show you my lab,” Shuri said, grabbing Peter’s arm and pulling him along. Peter happily agreed and went off with Shuri. 

Tony watched the two’s exchange and smiled at his two adopted science nerds becoming best friends. 

“Next generation, eh?” Steve said to Tony. Tony turned to Steve and nodded. 

“I guess so.” He answered softly. There was an almost comfortable silence between them for a moment, but succumbing to their own thoughts. 

“I’m sorry.” Tony finally said. Steve looked up at him, confused. 

“What?” He asked. Tony looked over to where Shuri and Peter stood laughing. 

“I’m sorry, Steve.” Tony repeated. “I was a complete jackass.” He said. Steve nodded. 

“As was I.” He agreed. Tony shook his head. 

“No, Steve.” He started. “You- everyone, you’re all a  _ team.  _ And all I did was get pissy and rip it all apart.” Tony said, his voice breaking a bit. “If it weren’t for me, we could’ve beaten Thanos  _ together.  _ But all I did was ensure our demise.” Steve looked down. 

“Tony, we’d be nothing without you.” He said softly. “You've carried this all on your back for  _ ten years,  _ Tony. The Avengers, this team… we wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for you.” Steve paused and put a hand on Tony’s shoulder gently. “Look, Tony, without you Bruce would still be hiding from himself. Nat would be nothing more than an empty shell of a person, constantly looking over her shoulder. Wanda, she’d be a vengeful kid still.” Steve stopped and sighed. “Tony, if it weren’t for you I’d still be denying everything since I went into the ice. I’d be living in an apartment in Brooklyn wishing nothing more than to just go back. But you, Tony, you changed that. You gave me- all of us, purpose.” Tony smiled weakly at Steve. “So what, we had a disagreement. We’re only human,” Steve smiled back at Tony. “My point is, Tony, is that this team needs you just as much as it needs everyone else.” Steve finished. Tony looked up at him and nodded. 

“Thank you, Steve.” He muttered. Steve saluted him informally and flashed his Captain America smile. 

“Just doing my duty.” Steve quoted. Tony grimaced.

“You know, I found some old film with your movies on it.” Tony teased. “We could watch them with the team someday.” Steve’s face paled instantly. 

“You would  _ never.”  _ He breathed. Tony flashed his Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist cross between a smile and a smirk as a response. 

“They’re cute together,” Vision whispered in my ear as I watched Tony and Steve. I turned to Vision and shook my head vehemently. 

“One’s engaged and the other’s married!” I laughed as I said it, the entire concept of Tony and Steve together strange and foreign. 

“That’s not what I meant.” Vision responder. I shook my head and leaned into him. 

“I know.” I answered playfully. Vision wrapped his arms around me as we watched people talk, laugh, and be happy in general. 

“Do you notice Captain Rogers?” Vision asked after a while. I shook my head and looked over to where Steve stood by a window, looking out onto the field and the forest. 

“He’s waiting for someone.” I explained. 

“It’s been almost two hours, what’s taking them so long?” Vision asked. I chuckled a bit. 

“They’re the other half of the connection.” I said. “They might be late because of that.” I saw Vision for a a little. 

“Wanda,” He said thoughtfully.

“Yeah?” I asked. Vision looked carefully at Steve. 

“Who is CaptaIn Rogers waiting for?” Vision asked. I bit my lip a little, thinking.

“I’m not entirely sure I’m the one to answer that.” I said. Vision nodded, understanding. 

“Go talk to him.” He whispered. I nodded and smiled. I walked to Steve and tapped him gently. He turned and plastered on a fake smile. 

“Yeah?” He asked. I motioned for him to follow me. 

“I have to tell you something,” I said. I lead Steve out of Shuri’s lab onto a terrace overlooking the forest. 

“What is it?” Steve asked. I looked down. 

“I’m sorry,” I said. Steve looked confused. 

“Why?” He asked. 

“All of this.” I explained, gesturing around me. “I did a lot of things I shouldn’t‘ve. The connection, I shouldn’t’ve put it in you without you knowing, I should’ve found a way to explain everything instead of letting you think you were crazy.” Steve nodded slowly. 

“How did you know that?” He asked after a moment. 

“About you thinking you were insane?” I laughed to myself. “Steve, I saw  _ everything.  _ I saw all of you collecting yourselves, Tony coming back, each failed try to return things to normal…” I trailed off. Steve nodded. Things were silent between the two of us, except for the low chirping of cicadas as the sun set slowly over the hills.

“Did he say anything?” Steve asked finally. 

“He was worried about you.” I answered. Steve smiled and looked out into the distance, into the forest. 

It had been almost two hours, and he was still waiting. I could tell that a part of Steve was terrified that somehow fate would get in the way again and he would never come back. I watched the lines on Steve’s face crease with worry as each minute ticked by. 

“Steve?” A voice called or across the field. Steve jerked and looked towards the voice, not missing a beat before running towards it. I followed and watched as a figure appeared near the edge of the forest. 

Steve approached Bucky slowly, his arm outstretched. Bucky came closer and held his palm up gently, like a lion trainer might. Steve gently place his palm on Bucky’s, a silent message between the two. They were silent except for their heavy breathing and beating hearts. 

“Bucky.” Steve breathed. Bucky traced Steve’s jawline gently with his thumb. “Don’t you ever do that again,” Steve whispered, his voice breaking and tears falling down his cheeks. Bucky shook his head and cupped Steve’s cheek with his hand. 

“I promise.” He whispered. Steve nodded and leaned into Bucky’s touch. 

“I’m with you,” Steve whispered. Bucky smiled. 

“Till the end of the line.” He finished. 

Steve leaned in and brushed Bucky’s long hair out of his face, a small gap between their faces. Bucky smiled and closed the gap, gently kissing Steve. 

I turned to give the two privacy and looked back into the palace. Everyone was back, two halves reunited and returned. 

We had brought the universe back to normal, the true balance restored. 

All was well.

Or at least, we thought so. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness golly gosh gracious you guys! What a chapter. This is great! Everyone’s back, I managed to squeeze in some stucky, and I’m not completely late on posting. 
> 
> It’s a feat for me, I’ll be honest. 
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. This one also went through an enormous number of rewrites and add-ons that changed it drastically. (This seems To be becoming a pattern.)
> 
> PSA: this is not the end of the fic,  
> Don’t worry. There’s probably a good three, maybe four chapters left for this wild ride. (Yay!) 
> 
> Also, school is starting soon which is not something I’m looking forward to at all. I’m not sure how much writing I will be able to achieve during the first couple weeks, but I will be trying to write as much as possible. Unfortunately, the fall is super busy for me, with band, morning dance practice at 7 am every day and football games every Week. However I’ll be armed with pumpkin spice lattes so hopefully writing will happen, too. 
> 
> One fiiiinal extra thing. A few chapters ago I posted my Instagram account, @avery.graced. Just a quick request, if you do end up following me on insta (or at least checking out my profile,) make sure to dm me that you’re from Ao3 so that I can follow you back! (You can also get cool updates on fics and there’s spoilers to be handed out as well.) 
> 
> As is tradition, I’d like to take this time to thank all of you guys for your supports thus far. It’s has been so much fun to write for guys. You make me smile all the time :). ALSO thank you to all the people who’ve subscribed to this fic! You guys don’t get a lot of love so here’s some!! 
> 
> As always if you’re enjoying this fic, make sure to suggest it to a friend, foe, or other half so more people can spread the love! 
> 
> Have an amazing week, and I’ll see you in chapter ten! 
> 
> All my love


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of arc 2.  
> trigger warnings- mentions of Hydra devices and techniques.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh guys! I'm so sorry this took so long, but i've been SWAMPED with school stuff and everything. Thank you so much for waiting! Aaaaanyways, chapter 10 is FINALLY here!!  
> This chapter is pretty long, so that's exciting at least. enjoy!
> 
> As always, all my love.

There was a certain buzz in the air after everyone returned, a certain buzz that not one of us condoned. Questions floated through the air, unanswered questions. Those questions were a confuddlement of puzzling circumstances. Would there be any lasting effects on those brought back? Was is permanent? And lastly, the worst one; was Thanos coming to do something about it?

“You need to stop worrying,” Bucky murmured to Steve, his head resting on Steve’s chest as they lay on the couch. Bucky was nestled under more than a couple fuzzy blankets, his own little haven. 

Steve smiled and kissed Bucky’s nose gently. 

“If I had stopped worrying where would you be?” Steve laughed. 

I smiled from behind the kitchen’s island.

“Can you two stop being so adorable?” Natasha asked, her feet dangling over the top of the couch. Clint snorted from on top of the counter. Steve glared at Natasha before kissing Bucky full on the mouth just to annoy her. 

Annoyed was what she very much was not. 

Peter chose that moment to enter the room with Shuri. 

“That’s so cool!” Peter exclaimed as Shuri showed him something on her phone. 

According to Tony, the two had gotten along beautifully since Peter’s return, so much that Tony had been able to spend barely any time with Peter. T’Challa had also complained that the two spent so much time together they were up in the lab until the wee hours of the night. 

T’Challa, who had taken back up the mantle of king, had graciously granted us to stay in Wakanda, planning for what to do next. That lasted for a little less than a day, when Doctor Strange has suggested we go on a sort of shore leave for the team being. 

The next day, Tony flew Pepper in from New York, where she had been arranging the rebuilding of Stark Tower into a PTSD and mental health center for those in New York who had been brought back. Steve and Bucky had been spending more than a lot of time in Bucky’s hut, although the two typically spent at least a few hours away from making out (among other things) to join the rest of the team at the palace. Vis and I, well, were in the same boat of sorts. 

Peter and Shuri spent most of their days in the lab, working out this or that. Every quiet moment in a common area was typically interrupted by one of their excited squeals or the sound of something crashing, and sometimes exploding. 

Scott had flown back to LA with Cassie to find his partner, whom he’d mentioned as “The Wasp,” And a couple named Hank and Janet. Cassie was going to stay with her mother for the time being, with Scott on call for us should we need him. 

Natasha and Clint were their usual selves, Clint sometimes popping out of the ventilation systems to share his opinion. Shuri was constantly amazed at how he got into said systems, as she had manufactured them to be silent and practically invisible. Clint’s answer was always a simple shrug from the top of the refrigerator. 

Clint had also invited his wife and children to stay at the Palace, to which they’d accepted. T’Challa welcomed them, although I’m sure it truly did not matter if he did or not. Just like the angers of the heart, the matters of family were not to be dealt with, even from a King. 

The team shared a series of rooms connected by a large kitchen and living room in the center. The Other Peter, as most were calling him, stayed glued to the couch all day, constantly amazed by the new world around him he hadn’t been in since his childhood. He and Steve had been spending a lot of time together, both men out of time and men comparing everything they’d missed. Sam would usually poke in with a snarky comment, or something else they absolutely needed to know. Sam himself had spent a good amount of his time doing counseling to Wakandans who had been brought back, those suffering from severe PTSD and certain shell-shocks after the battle with Thanos. Rocket and Groot kept to themselves, while Drax and Mantis met everyone and anyone they could. 

Strange had travelled back to the New York sanctum for a few days before returning to Wakanda to meet with T’Challa and Tony over matters I didn’t pretend to know about. Steven had become quieter, more humble since I’d last seen him, almost like he was afraid of something. Strange, no pun intended, was acting Strange. 

Thor and Brunnhilde, who he sometimes referred to as “Valkyrie,” kept to themselves mostly, and Thor had been arranging for the rest of the Asgardians to stay in Wakanda. America wouldn’t take them, it was too busy with a re-election, and the current changes of power in almost every other country left Thor’s best option for his people Wakanda. 

Carol Danvers, however, was probably one of the oddest out of our little group. She was quiet, but fundamental. She spent her days organizing our little family, helping out with T’Challa, and speaking to Nick Fury over her ancient flip phone. None of us truly knew who she was anymore, nor did any of us quite know what exactly her powers were. Sam has picked up that she had previously spent time in the US Air Force, a fact he’d overheard her talking about with Fury walking back from a counseling meeting. 

I could sense that Carol had some form of telekinetic powers under her belt, an ability I’d found id picked up after being trapped between worlds. I’d noticed other things, too. 

There were times my powers would lose their red glow and instead get the color of a certain Infinity Stone, and other times where it would come out stronger than before. At night, I would have dreams of being back between worlds, or sometimes on the Soul Stone again. 

I know I’m not the only one having these. I’ve heard, and sensed, the quiet anxiousness behind everyone’s calm fronts. Quill, he’s terrified. Gamora hasn’t returned yet, and we’ve been shown no sign that she will. Bucky and Tony jump at the sound of any loud noise, and I can hear from my own room the sound of Bucky’s nightmares when he stays at the palace. Young Peter was affected maybe worst of all, though he hides it best. I’ve heard him, too, awaking from one of his nightmares or consulting Shuri in tears in the dead of night. He can’t stand any closed space, and shrugs away from a too-tight hug. 

There are more, too, but not all of them I can sense so easily. Natasha, for one, is hard as rock as normal, but she could feel something different. Wrong. Clint’s hearing goes in and out even more now, and Laura tries harder and harder to keep up with signing to him. 

We’ve all been affected, in our own ways. Hugs, gestures, touches are longer, “I love you’s” are said more often, and everything that happened before seems almost invisible now. 

Tony hasn’t mentioned Berlin at all. He’s even somewhat civil to Bucky, I’ve noticed. The other day, actually, I heard him mention quietly to Steve that he’d watched more of the Winter Soldier’s video files. 

A part of me wonders if he’s ever seen me or Pietro's. 

“Wanda!” Vision said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I shook my head for a moment, shaking away old thoughts. 

“Yeah?” I asked. Vis shook his head and smiled a little. 

“Are you good with that?” Vis asked. Oops. Looks like I missed yet another conversation. 

“Good with… what again?” I asked. Vision smiled again, grabbing my hand. 

“Tony, Captain Rogers, and I are flying out to Washington for a case.” He explained. I knew exactly what case he was talking about, because it was mine. Tony had been vying for a Visa and green card for myself and Bucky for days, something he seemed particularly on edge about recently. When I asked him about it, he simply told me to “check the news”, with an angry grimace of embarrassment. 

Needless to say, that look alone was enough to miss checking the news. 

“That’s fine,” I said to Vis, squeezing his hand slightly. He brushed a small piece of hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead gently. 

“Be safe,” he whispered. 

“I’ll try my best.” I answered. 

 

***

 

A few hours later, I found myself sitting between the trees on the edge of the forest. 

Lately, it’s been a habit to go walking among them whenever I feel lonely, or down. The trees here are ancient, and being near them makes me feel… welcome. 

I can remember a time in my life when  _ trees  _ weren’t allowed, nor did I quite remember them. Usually I think of that time when I’m among the trees, when my thoughts are a mix of blurs and streaks I would rather bury.

My time with Hydra is something I’ll never forget, but I’ll always hate to remember. 

Pietro and I submitted to Hydra when we were 15 years old, and spent 7 years under their influence before joining Ultron. While other test subjects were usually kept under strict lock and key, with promises of “breaks” if they behaved well, Pietro and I weren’t promised anything. We were under tight lock and key still, yes, but we were different. Unlike the other test subjects that had to be pulled off the streets, we were  _ willing.  _ And that made us very valuable assets to Strucker. Testing and training were different for us, too. While we were the only two to make it through testing alive, there were others who barely made it. I can remember one, a Ukrainian girl who’s name had been stripped away, who obtained powers for a day before dying of a heart failure in the middle of the night. 

She was the last subject before I got my own powers. 

Training was always hard, intensive. It was a mixture of combative, spy,and some interrogation training.  There are parts, blotches, that I don’t remember. Something called Psychogenic Amnesia, where your brain blocks out traumatic events. Thankfully, we weren’t subjected to electroshock therapy like James and the other Winter Soldiers, but it’s almost worse knowing that you went through something so bad your brain  _ chose  _ to force itself forget it. 

And yet I still have nightmares of that night when I was ten, and the name emblazoned as Stark staring me down for two days as I lay motionless under the rubble. 

“Are you thinking about it?” James said from behind me. I turned to see his figure resting against a tree. 

“Where’s Captain Rogers?” I asked in response, not wanting to answer the question. James raised an eyebrow. 

“With your android.” He responded, beckoning for me to come sit next to him. I sat cross-legged in front of him, settling myself on the brush. 

“Do you think about it, too?” I asked. James smiled a little, tugging a little on a tiny braid in his hair, courtesy of Steve. 

“That parts that I can remember, yes.” He murmured softly. “The thing is, I spent the better part of seventy years asleep.” I frowned. 

“What does that have to do with it?” I wondered. James laughed softly. 

“Wanda, you don’t dream in cryosleep.” He explained. “And… they’d wipe my memory like they took their meals, until I became….” He stared off into the distance, his eyes cold and hard. 

“I’m sorry- I shouldn’t’ve pressed you,” I said, getting up. James shook his head. 

“No, you’re fine.” he said. His eyes were now soft and caring, back like when we’d first spoken in the Soul Stone. “Stay.” I nodded and sat back down. Everything was silent for a while, as I worked on tossing leaves around the ground with my mind. 

“Wanda,” James said cautiously after a while. I looked up instantly and braced myself.

“What?” I asked hesitantly. 

“Can you…” James trailed off for a second. He looked at me, and then the ground. 

“Can I what?” I asked again, curious. 

“You could visualize the world outside the Soul Stone before, right? You could see different people and things.” James finished. I nodded slowly. “Could you…  _ can  _ you still do that?” He asked. I frowned.

I’d never tried. 

“I’m not sure.” I answered. James smiled at me hesitantly. It was yet another unanswered question, another thing that I couldn’t answer, that would bug me and nag me until I could. And yet, out of all of the swirling questions we couldn’t hope to understand, this was something… I could at least try, however impractical it seemed.  “But I can try.” I added.

Something I’ve noticed in my life is the way people smile. They can have a giddy smile, a tired smile, or an excited smile. James’s smile now was something in between all three, a mixture of almost childish glee that he hadn’t yet managed to mask. It was cute, and I could see why Steve liked him so much. 

James scooted a little closer to me, causing the leaves underneath him to crunch. 

“How will you do it?” He asked. I shook my head. 

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “I could, theoretically, access my powers I obtained from travelling inbetween worlds to go back.” I tore a stray leaf apart with my hands. “But it probably wouldn’t work.” I finished. James laughed a little and shrugged. 

“Is it worth a try, at least?” He asked. I smiled at him. He was, undeniably, adorable when he was curious, despite being the world’s most deadly assassin. 

I nodded slowly and let my hands fall to rest on my knees. 

How in the world I was going to do this, I’ll never really know. 

Slowly, I let my mind drift off like I was falling asleep, but I was focused completely on where I had been before, that void between the worlds where I could see anything and everything. I felt a warm feeling spread over my fingertips, and small tendrils of light passes through them. 

“Is it working?” James asked, but his voice sounded far away, like when you’re underwater and someone above water says something. 

I let my mind slip away a bit more, and everything flashed brightly before dimming completely, leaving me in the darkness of the void in between dimensions. 

“You’re back,” A voice I almost recognized said. I turned through the darkness (although turn wasn’t the best word, since I was floating it was more of a spin) to see a shadowed figure. 

“Who are you?” I asked. The figure gave a small laugh. 

“You’ll find out soon enough.” It mused. I shook my head. “I’ve been waiting for you a long time, Wanda. It’s a miracle Seargent Barnes was able to get you to come here in the first place.” I floated backwards, confused. 

“How do you know me?” I asked. The figure laughed again. 

“It was my understanding that it is you who knows me.” The figure stated, confusingly.

“That’s ridiculous.” I said. There was a pause, and almost silence, before I continued. “How did you get here, anyway?” I asked. 

“How did you get here?” The figure gave as an answer. I frowned, confused. 

“What do you mean?” Was my response. The figure shook its own head and gave the motion of an almost-smile. Upon looking closer, I noticed it had silvery-white hair that curled rambunctiously over its head. 

“I mean,” The figure floated closer. “How are you getting  _ out _ ?” Its voice was almost menacing now, but gentle, with the emphasis on the ‘out’. Scared, I tried to back away, but it reached out a hand and touched my wrist gently. Familiar eyes looked down into mine and the figure’s grip softened. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here.” It whispered, before everything went black.

  
  


\---

 

“Wanda?” Bucky’s voice called, alarmed. He shook Wanda’s unconscious body for a second before taping her head gently. “Wanda!” He said again, with more urgency. The young girl’s eyes fluttered quickly before she opened them with a start.

“Where--” She began, before looking around and realizing that she was back in the forest. She looked concerned, like something had happened to her that she couldn’t quite explain.

“Are you okay?” Bucky asked, his brow furrowing. Wanda nodded and stood up slowly. 

“I’m sorry,” Wanda said softly. “It didn’t work.” She explained. Bucky smiled at her gently. 

“That’s not important. What’s important is you being okay.” He said, putting his metal arm on her shoulder, ever so careful not to hurt her. 

“Are you sure?” He asked, still concerned. Wanda nodded and smiled. 

“Is Steve home yet?” She asked. Bucky nodded and the two set off towards the palace together, Wanda trying to forget her past woes. 

 

***

 

It was a few hours later, after most of the team had retired to their rooms, that Bucky once again laid his head against Steve’s chest in the living room the team shared. 

“What movie should we watch?” Steve asked, flipping through the different options on Netflix. 

“Something good,” Bucky murmured, his voice muffled by Steve’s shirt. Bucky gently kissed Steve’s chest between his shirt, and Bucky heard a noticeable sigh from the other boy as he did so. 

“You two have so much PDA.” Natasha said from the other couch, her mouth full of popcorn. 

“Anything is PDA to you, Nat.” Steve answered, and Nat held up her black asexual pride armband with, well, pride. 

“You bet.” She announced, and then went back to shoving handfuls of popcorn into her mouth. 

“Whatcha’ guys doin’?” Said a voice from the ceiling. The three looked up to see Peter Parker laying on the ceiling wearing Thor pajamas. 

“This just keeps getting weirder.” Natasha said. Peter dropped down from the ceiling, landing on the coffee table swiftly. He ever so subtly poked out his pink, purple and blue striped socks out from under his legs.

“You should go to bed, kid.” Steve said gently. Peter sighed. 

“I can’t.” He explained, swinging his body over so that his legs faced the ceiling and he was laying on the table. “The sky’s awake, so I’m awake.” He said dramatically. Natasha set down her popcorn and grabbed the remote from Steve. 

“I know what we’re watching!” She exclaimed, and scrolled down to a movie neither Steve nor Bucky recognized.    
“What’s ‘ _ Frozen’ _ ?” Bucky asked. Peter looked to Natasha, and they shared a look. 

“You’ll see.” They said in unison. 

In less than a little bit of time, Natasha and Peter were singing along to “Let it Go”, and by the end of the movie, even Bucky had gotten into it. 

Nevertheless, they spoke until the wee hours of the morning about Han’s betrayal, and breakfast the next morning was Steve-made Elsa pancakes.

 

***

 

“What the h*ll are these?” Sam asked in utter confusion and tones of disgust, looking down at his own Elsa pancake. Steve shrugged and plopped a pancake down on Tony’s plate. 

“Didn’t I buy this franchise?” Tony wondered aloud and he took a bite. 

“Are these peppermint?” Clint asked, shoving a forkful into his mouth. Peter nodded excitedly and passed one to Shuri. 

“We showed them the movie last night,” Natasha explained as Rhodey looked down at the scene in confusion. Bucky looked up from having his head rest on the counter. 

“We watched it  _ seven  _ times.” He groaned. 

“Seven times, and you sang along to six of them.” Steve corrected Bucky, his hand on his hip and his spatula pointed to Bucky. “And the pancakes were your idea.” He continued.

“They were my idea at three am.” Bucky said in defense, his eyes blotchy and sleep deprived. “Not when you decided to actually make them.” Steve shot a glare at Bucky in response. 

“You two fight like an old married couple.” Tony mumbled. 

“We  _ are  _ an old married couple.” Steve shot in response. Tony rolled his eyes and went back to eating his pancake. 

“What’s all of this?” Wanda asked as she entered the room. 

“Elsa pancakes,” Clint said, looked up from shoving them down his throat. “Want one?” Wanda cocked her head to the side, confused. 

“Who’s… Elsa?” She asked. Peter, Shuri and Natasha jumped backwards and looked shocked. 

“You’ve never seen  _ Frozen _ ?” Peter asked, his hand halfway over his mouth. Wanda shook her head. 

“No….?” She dragged out the ‘o’ like it was more of a question than an answer. Peter and Shuri looked to each other before dragging Wanda to the couch and turning on the movie. 

“No!” Bucky said, covering his ears as the opening song came on. “Take me back, Hydra.” He groaned. Steve smiled and put his hands around Bucky’s hips, swaying a little and singing. 

“ _ Do you wanna build a snowman _ ?” Steve sang, incredibly out of tune. Tony grimaced, Sam laughed, and Clint and Natasha both picked up their phones and started recording the scene. 

“Stop,” Bucky said slowly, dragging out the ‘o’ yet again to make it seem long. Steve kissed him on the neck and continued singing. Finally, Bucky gave in and started to dance along with Steve, sans the singing. 

The song ended and Steve let go of Bucky, Tony uncovered his eyes and both Clint’s and Natasha’s view were being uploaded to YouTube.

“I’m selling the franchise.” Tony exclaimed to himself, getting up. “I can’t stand it anymore.”

“What is that?” Peter Quill asked as he entered the room with the other Guardians at his back, referring to the movie. 

“This,” Natasha began. “Is a cinematic masterpiece.” Peter nodded slowly. 

“Yeah, like  _ Footloose _ ?” He asked. The Other Peter sighed in response. Quill opened his mouth to say something, but was infuriated by a crashing noise.

Everyone turned to the door and saw Brunhilde and Thor standing in the doorway. 

“What’s up?” Clint asked, unfazed. Tony lifted his hand, signaling for Peter to pause to the movie. Thor let in a gulp, but Brunhilde beat him to it. 

“Thanos,” she announced. “He’s coming.”

Everyone was silent for a few moments, contemplating the sudden end of the peace they’d found. Peter Parker was the first to speak up. 

“H-how do you know?” He asked, his voice small and terrified. 

“That’s… complicated.” Brunhilde answered.    
“Well then how are you sure?” Natasha asked, her voice hard. 

“Again, complicated.” Brunhilde explained. Tony laughed hysterically. 

“So we’re just supposed to believe he’s back?” He asked. Brunhilde but her lip and looked to Thor. Thor nodded slowly. 

“I have information regarding a former accomplice of his.” Brunhilde said slowly. 

“What ‘former accomplice’?” Steve asked, Bucky using air quotes for him. “Everyone who’s ever helped him is either dead or…” Steve stopped and looked around, his eyes widening. 

“Or in this room.” Bruce said from behind them all. Brunhilde glared at him sharply as he stepped toward her. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” Natasha asked cautiously. Brunhilde reaches into her pocket and tossed something to Bruce. Bruce caught it in one hand and smiled to himself. 

“You really are a room of fools.” He said, chuckling and taking off his glasses. Natasha pulled out her gun slowly. 

“What do you mean, Bruce?” Steve asked. Bucky stood quietly and weaponized his prosthetic arm. Bruce turned and winked. 

“You’ll see.” He smashed the object in his hand on the ground, and his body was engulfed in a surge of light. Peter and Shuri jumped and fell over, while Clint was almost knocked off his place on the countertop. 

“What the h—“ Rocket started, but his voice was stopped by a blasting sound that echoed through the room. The light faded around Bruce, but when it did fully and the crowd of people around it could see inside, there was no Bruce to see. Two shadowed figures emerged from the bright light. 

“Hello, Brother.” Loki said, stepping into the light. Everyone was silent, until the other figure started coughing and swearing.

“I was in there— for a three weeks!” Bruce shouted. “You kept me in there for three weeks!” He said, and the veins in his neck started to glow green. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, big guy.” Loki said, turning to Bruce. “Calm down.” He said softly. 

“How could you?!” Thor shouted, storming up to Loki. 

“I thought you were  _ dead _ !” Brunhilde shouted, pushing passed Thor. “You left me and made me think you were  _ dead,  _ and all I knew was to give you that  _ stupid  _ spell back, because I’d do ‘anything’ for the  _ Prince of Asgard! _ ” She finished, her hand on Loki’s. 

“Anything?” Loki asked cheekily. Brunhilde groaned and pulled her hand away, but Loki grabbed it and kissed her hard on the lips. Thor groaned and covered his eyes. Brunhilde broke away and spat at his feet. 

“That’s the last time I do  _ anything  _ for you.” She said, and turned to look for someone else to make a statement with. Shuri ran up and smiled, kissing Brunhilde lightly on the cheek. 

“Shuri!” T’Challa exclaimed, surprised. Shuri turned to him and smiled. 

“I’m lesbian.” She said, shrugging and looking to Peter, who looked like he was about to die of excitement.

“ _ I thought you were American! _ ” He burst out, and the two bursted into laughs so hard there were tears falling down their cheeks. 

“What is going  _ ON?”  _ Tony asked. Peter and Shuri stopped laughing and looked to him. 

“Bruce this entire time was actually Loki.” Wanda explained. “Brunhilde and Loki were in a relationship and she was pissed at him, but she’s officially declared independence from him in the form of Shuri, who’s gay and definitely not American. That was just a vine reference.” She continued. 

“How did you understand a thing they just said?” Bucky asked her. Wanda shrugged.

“I can read minds.” She said. “Now, what about that Thanks thing again?” Everyone snapped back to attention, remembering that the villain that killed half the universe was returning. 

“He’s coming back.” Loki said. “We— That is I, found signals from one of his ships heading to Earth, and the signal is much similar to the ones from last time.” He explained. 

“Why doesn’t he just teleport here?” Tony asked. Loki shrugged. 

“Maybe he’s giving us time to prepare.” Brunhilde explained. 

“Or maybe he’s not coming.” Rhodey said. Sam nodded. 

“Maybe he’s just sending a ship to scare us.” Sam added. 

“What if he doesn’t know we brought people back, and is just checking in on Earth?” Mantis asked quietly. Everyone turned to her. 

“ _ Does  _ he know?” Wanda asked. Tony smirked.

“You can read minds, why don’t you ask him?” He said. Wanda frowned. 

“It doesn’t work that way.” She corrected. 

“So… what's our game plan?” Carol asked. She’d been silent the entire time, and everyone jumped at the sound of her voice. 

“What  _ can  _ we do?” Peter asked, his voice timid. 

“The best we can,” Brunhilde answered, leaving everyone to prepare for what was coming. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a lot. Okay, yeah, I get that chapter was a little (let's be honest, a lot) confusing. Don't worry, all will be explained. Until then, Cheerio! 
> 
> one more thing, how would you guys like a doctor who crossover fic? leave me a though in the comments.


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